cutting one object with another using illustrator

Question

I want to cut an object using second object how can I acheive it?

In the above image you can see 2 objects one is circle having 2px stroke and no fill, second is rectangle having white fill but no stroke. I want to cut circle based on rectangle to make it something like this

Using your solutions I am getting object like this one

Answer 1

Its easy:

by using shape builder tool - (Shift+M)

step 1- make 2 shapes as shown in the image

step 2- keep both objects together and select both the images.

step 3- use the shape builder tool(Shift+M) and alt+click on the part of image you want to remove.

step 4- the unwanted part of image will be removed....we can just play around with this tool....its really easy and cool.

hope it helps :)

Answer 2

The reason why you are getting the weird shape cutout in your last image, is because the circle only has a stroke applied to it. Expand the circle with the stroke first, which will turn it into a fill. (Or you could go to "outline stroke"). From there, follow the steps and you will see it cookie cuts quite nicely.

Answer 3

First Method You place the Bar above the circle in the place you want (and LOCK any other object below the shapes) and in go to Object->Path-> Devide Objects Below and after that you remove the part which is unnecessary

Second Method You place the Bar above the circle and select both objects, in the Pathfinder panel you press Minus Front. If it below the circle just use Minus Back function of the Pathfinder.

be sure the Bar is above the circle in the layers panel

if you need the Bar intact after the operations - duplicate it before placing for cutting