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I have two objects in Illustrator, a black circle and the silhouette of a person (in white). I want to subtract the silhouette from the black circle. So that everything but (what is left of) the black circle is transparent. How do I do this?

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  • Did you first google the exact title you used for this question...?
    – Alin
    Commented Nov 9, 2017 at 15:23

1 Answer 1

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There are two methods.

1. Compund Path

Object > Compound Path > Make (Ctrl/Command+8)

2. Pathfinder

Window > Pathfinder (Ctrl/Command+Shift+F9)

Select your objects, then Minus Front in the Pathfinder Panel

enter image description here

That will remove the silhouette shape from the circle - leaving it blank (transparent).

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  • Thanks for your quick response but both aren't working. The first option gives me this response: "Can't make a compound path. All objects in a compound path must be paths, and they cannot be brushed or be part of an object." The second, I select both objects hit the subtract command in Pathfinder window, it looks no different and I get: The filter produced no results. Please select two intersecting paths." Any other ideas?
    – Adobe Soup
    Commented Nov 9, 2017 at 15:44
  • @AdobeSoup Ungroup your stuff first.
    – joojaa
    Commented Aug 14, 2018 at 7:34

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