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So I want to have an empty star in my object; almost like a hole in the middle but star-shaped. How can I chop out the star shape in my object and make it transparent?

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  • Wellcome to GD.SE. Do you know what a compound path is?
    – joojaa
    Commented May 8, 2015 at 4:54
  • Now I do! I'll give it a try tomorrow
    – Rhys
    Commented May 8, 2015 at 6:12
  • If it's not an image, you might want to use Window > Pathfinder.
    – Joonas
    Commented May 8, 2015 at 6:51
  • 2
    possible duplicate of How do I get started with Adobe Illustrator?
    – Ilan
    Commented May 8, 2015 at 8:40

1 Answer 1

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The Pathfinder is your friend, for things like this.

Starting with my two paths (rectangle and star).

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Make sure the object that you want to punch out is on top of the object you want to make the hole in.

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Open your Pathfinder (Window > Pathfinder). I like to keep mine pinned to the toolbar on the right, because it gets used a lot. Make sure that both paths are selected and press the circled option (Minus Front).

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That will give you this result:

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As you can see, the two paths have now been combined into a Compound Path and the star is now a hole in the rectangle.

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