You can use pathfinder to create shapes from existing ones (circle, rectangle) or ones you draw yourself with the pen tool. Then, use your mouse to click on all of the shapes you would like to combine (either by highlighting over all of them or using shift+click to select multiple at once) and click the Add to Shape Area button (the first one) in pathfinder. All you have to do is imagine how you would build your ideal shape out of the ones at your disposal. Whatever shape you want to make, pathfinder can help you add simple shapes together to create a custom shape.Ĭompared to the other capabilities of pathfinder, this one is easiest to visualize. Maybe you have a triangle and a square that make a house. Maybe you have multiple rectangles that, together, create a maze. Maybe you have three circles that you want to merge into a snowman. You can manipulate points on your shapes using the white arrow tool, but pathfinder is different from grouping objects because it fuses them completely and does not leave the original shapes intact.įor When You Want to Make a Complex Shape Note: Before we begin, realize that you cannot “un-pathfind” shapes once you use this tool. If you are looking for a more in-depth explanation of its various uses and applications, see this more thorough guide for combining shapes. This tutorial will act as a quick introduction to pathfinder, focusing on the most common tools along the bottom of the menu. This graphic visually explains the four pathfinder tool options used in this tutorial.
I like to keep all of the shape-building tools, including Align and Transform, pinned to the side of my window in case I need them!) (If you love using it, consider adding it to your workspace. Go to Window > Pathfinder in either program to open the window if it isn’t kept in your default workspace by default. If you’ve never used pathfinder, don’t be intimidated! It’s easy to use and pretty forgiving if you mess up (because you can just press “undo” and try again).
However, Illustrator and InDesign’s pathfinder tool makes it possible to create new, custom shapes by combining simple ones-which makes it possible to draw absolutely anything. If you’re used to the endless depth of shape libraries in Microsoft Office or Google Docs, it might seem initially limiting. In Adobe Illustrator and InDesign, there are only a few basic shape tools: circles, rectangles, and regular polygons. Meet Pathfinder, your new favorite tool in InDesign or Illustrator!
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