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Build new shapes with Shaper and Shape Builder tools

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Illustrator

Illustrator

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  1. Illustrator User Guide
  2. Get to know Illustrator
    1. Introduction to Illustrator
      1. What's new in Illustrator
      2. Common questions
      3. Illustrator system requirements
      4. Illustrator for Apple silicon
      5. GPU performance
    2. Workspace
      1. Workspace basics
      2. Create documents
      3. Learn faster with the Illustrator Discover panel
      4. Accelerate workflows using the Contextual Task Bar
      5. Toolbar
      6. Default keyboard shortcuts
      7. Customize keyboard shortcuts
      8. Introduction to artboards
      9. Manage artboards
      10. Customize the workspace
      11. Properties panel
      12. Set preferences
      13. Touch Workspace
      14. Microsoft Surface Dial support in Illustrator
      15. Undo edits and manage design history
      16. Rotate view
      17. Rulers, grids, and guides
      18. Accessibility in Illustrator
      19. View artwork
      20. Use the Touch Bar with Illustrator
      21. Files and templates
    3. Tools in Illustrator
      1. Tools at a glance
      2. Select tools
        1. Selection
        2. Direct Selection
        3. Group Selection
        4. Magic Wand
        5. Lasso
        6. Artboard
      3. Navigate tools
        1. Hand
        2. Rotate View
        3. Zoom
      4. Paint tools
        1. Gradient
        2. Mesh
        3. Shape Builder
      5. Text tools
        1. Type
        2. Type on a Path
        3. Vertical Type
      6. Draw tools
        1. Pen
        2. Add Anchor Point
        3. Delete Anchor Point
        4. Anchor Point
        5. Curvature
        6. Line Segment
        7. Rectangle
        8. Rounded Rectangle
        9. Ellipse
        10. Polygon
        11. Star
        12. Paintbrush
        13. Blob Brush
        14. Pencil
        15. Shaper
        16. Slice
      7. Modify tools
        1. Rotate
        2. Reflect
        3. Scale
        4. Shear
        5. Width
        6. Free Transform
        7. Eyedropper
        8. Blend
        9. Eraser
        10. Scissors
        11. Dimension
    4. Generative AI (not available in mainland China)
      1. Generate scenes, subjects, and icons using text prompts
      2. Generate vector patterns using text prompts
      3. Generate vector shape fills using text prompts
      4. Recolor your artwork using text prompts
    5. Quick actions
      1. Retro text
      2. Neon glow text
      3. Old school text
      4. Recolor
      5. Convert sketch to vector
  3. Illustrator on the web (beta)
    1. Illustrator on the web (beta) overview
    2. Illustrator on the web (beta) FAQ
    3. Troubleshooting issues FAQ
    4. Keyboard shortcuts for Illustrator on the web (beta)
    5. Create and combine shapes on the web
    6. Add and edit text on the web
    7. Apply colors and gradients on the web
    8. Draw and edit paths on the web
    9. Work with cloud documents on the web
    10. Invite collaborators to edit on the web
  4. Illustrator on the iPad
    1. Introduction to Illustrator on the iPad
      1. Illustrator on the iPad overview
      2. Illustrator on the iPad FAQs
      3. System requirements | Illustrator on the iPad
      4. What you can or cannot do on Illustrator on the iPad
    2. Workspace
      1. Illustrator on the iPad workspace
      2. Touch shortcuts and gestures
      3. Keyboard shortcuts for Illustrator on the iPad
      4. Manage your app settings
    3. Documents
      1. Work with documents in Illustrator on the iPad
      2. Import Photoshop and Fresco documents
    4. Select and arrange objects
      1. Create repeat objects
      2. Blend objects
    5. Drawing
      1. Draw and edit paths
      2. Draw and edit shapes
    6. Type
      1. Work with type and fonts
      2. Create text designs along a path
      3. Add your own fonts
    7. Work with images
      1. Vectorize raster images
    8. Color
      1. Apply colors and gradients
  5. Cloud documents
    1. Basics
      1. Work with Illustrator cloud documents
      2. Share and collaborate on Illustrator cloud documents
      3. Share documents for review
      4. Upgrade cloud storage for Adobe Illustrator
      5. Illustrator cloud documents | Common questions
    2. Troubleshooting
      1. Troubleshoot create or save issues for Illustrator cloud documents
      2. Troubleshoot Illustrator cloud documents issues
  6. Add and edit content
    1. Drawing
      1. Drawing basics
      2. Edit paths
      3. Draw pixel-perfect art
      4. Draw with the Pen, Curvature, or Pencil tool
      5. Draw simple lines and shapes
      6. Draw rectangular and polar grids
      7. Draw and edit flares
      8. Trace images
      9. Simplify a path
      10. Symbolism tools and symbol sets
      11. Adjust path segments
      12. Design a flower in 5 easy steps
      13. Create and edit a perspective grid
      14. Draw and modify objects on a perspective grid
      15. Use objects as symbols for repeat use
      16. Draw pixel-aligned paths for web workflows
    2. Measurement
      1. Measure and plot dimensions
    3. 3D objects and materials
      1. About 3D effects in Illustrator
      2. Create 3D graphics
      3. Map artwork over 3D objects
      4. Create 3D Text
      5. Create 3D objects
    4. Color
      1. About color
      2. Select colors
      3. Use and create swatches
      4. Adjust colors
      5. Use the Adobe Color Themes panel
      6. Color groups (harmonies)
      7. Color Themes panel
      8. Recolor your artwork
    5. Painting
      1. About painting
      2. Paint with fills and strokes
      3. Live Paint groups
      4. Gradients
      5. Brushes
      6. Transparency and blending modes
      7. Apply stroke on an object
      8. Create and edit patterns
      9. Meshes
      10. Patterns
    6. Select and arrange objects
      1. Select objects
      2. Layers
      3. Expand, group, and ungroup objects
      4. Move, align, and distribute objects
      5. Align, arrange, and move objects on a path
      6. Snap objects to glyph
      7. Snap objects to Japanese glyph
      8. Stack objects    
      9. Lock, hide, and delete objects
      10. Copy and duplicate objects
      11. Rotate and reflect objects
      12. Intertwine objects
      13. Create realistic art mockups
    7. Reshape objects
      1. Crop images
      2. Transform objects
      3. Combine objects
      4. Cut, divide, and trim objects
      5. Puppet Warp
      6. Scale, shear, and distort objects
      7. Blend objects
      8. Reshape using envelopes
      9. Reshape objects with effects
      10. Build new shapes with Shaper and Shape Builder tools
      11. Work with Live Corners
      12. Enhanced reshape workflows with touch support
      13. Edit clipping masks
      14. Live shapes
      15. Create shapes using the Shape Builder tool
      16. Global editing
    8. Type
      1. Add text and work with type objects
      2. Reflow Viewer
      3. Create bulleted and numbered lists
      4. Manage text area
      5. Fonts and typography
      6. Convert text within images into editable text
      7. Add basic formatting to text
      8. Add advanced formatting to text
      9. Import and export text
      10. Format paragraphs
      11. Special characters
      12. Create type on a path
      13. Character and paragraph styles
      14. Tabs
      15. Find missing fonts (Typekit workflow)
      16. Arabic and Hebrew type
      17. Fonts | FAQ and troubleshooting tips
      18. Creative typography designs
      19. Scale and rotate type
      20. Line and character spacing
      21. Hyphenation and line breaks
      22. Spelling and language dictionaries
      23. Format Asian characters
      24. Composers for Asian scripts
      25. Create text designs with blend objects
      26. Create a text poster using Image Trace
    9. Create special effects
      1. Work with effects
      2. Graphic styles
      3. Appearance attributes
      4. Create sketches and mosaics
      5. Drop shadows, glows, and feathering
      6. Summary of effects
    10. Web graphics
      1. Best practices for creating web graphics
      2. Graphs
      3. SVG
      4. Slices and image maps
  7. Import, export, and save
    1. Import
      1. Place multiple files
      2. Manage linked and embedded files
      3. Links information
      4. Unembed images
      5. Import artwork from Photoshop
      6. Import bitmap images
      7. Import Adobe PDF files
      8. Import EPS, DCS, and AutoCAD files
    2. Creative Cloud Libraries in Illustrator 
      1. Creative Cloud Libraries in Illustrator
    3. Save and export
      1. Save artwork
      2. Export artwork
      3. Create Adobe PDF files
      4. Adobe PDF options
      5. Use Illustrator artwork in Photoshop
      6. Collect assets and export in batches
      7. Package files
      8. Extract CSS | Illustrator CC
      9. Document info panel
  8. Printing
    1. Prepare for printing
      1. Set up documents for printing
      2. Change the page size and orientation
      3. Specify crop marks for trimming or aligning
      4. Get started with large canvas
    2. Printing
      1. Overprint
      2. Print with color management
      3. PostScript printing
      4. Print presets
      5. Printer's marks and bleeds
      6. Print and save transparent artwork
      7. Trapping
      8. Print color separations
      9. Print gradients, meshes, and color blends
      10. White Overprint
  9. Automate tasks
    1. Data merge using the Variables panel
    2. Automation with scripts
    3. Automation with actions
  10. Troubleshooting 
    1. Fixed issues
    2. Known issues
    3. Crash issues
    4. Recover files after crash
    5. Safe mode
    6. File issues
    7. Supported file formats
    8. GPU device driver issues
    9. Wacom device issues
    10. DLL file issues
    11. Memory issues
    12. Preferences file issues
    13. Font issues
    14. Printer issues
    15. Share crash report with Adobe
    16. Improve Illustrator performance

Learn how to build shapes with Shaper and Shape Builder tools in Illustrator.

About the Shaper Tool

The Shaper tool helps you create complex and beautiful designs by drawing, stacking, and placing shapes together, and then simply combining, merging, deleting, or moving them. Use simple, visually-intuitive gestures to perform operations that previously may have taken multiple actions to achieve.

Use the Shaper tool to turn natural gestures into vector shapes. Use a mouse or the ease of a touch device to create polygons, rectangles, or circles. The shapes drawn are live shapes. This feature is enabled in the traditional workspaces, the specialized Touch workspace, and on your mobile with Adobe Fresco.

Adobe Illustrator deeplink

Try it in the app
Use the Shaper tool to build new shapes in a few simple steps.

Open Illustrator

Using the Shaper tool (drawing shapes)

  1. In Illustrator, from the Toolbox, click the Shaper tool (Shift+N).

  2. In the document, draw a shape. For example, draw a rough representation of a rectangle, circle, ellipse, or triangle or other polygon.

  3. The shape you draw is converted into a crisp geometric shape. The shape created is Live, and is fully editable like any Live shape.

    Convert free-hand gestures into crisp vector shapes
    Convert free-hand gestures into crisp vector shapes

Using the Shaper tool (creating shapes)

  1. Do one of the following:

    • Select a few overlapping shapes in your document
    • Use a tool to draw shapes that are overlapping
    • Use the Shaper tool (Shift + N) to quickly draw rectangles, circles, or polygons

  2. If not already selected, select the Shaper tool (Shift + N).

  3. Using your mouse (on a non-touch device) or your finger scribble on an area that you would either like to merge, delete, or punch out.

    The following rules determine how portions of the shapes are punched out or merged, and what the color of a merged shape is:

    • If the scribble is within one shape, the area is punched out.
    • If the scribble is across intersecting areas of two or more shapes, the intersecting areas are punched out
    • If scribble originates from the shape in the front:
      • From a non-overlapping area to an overlapping area, the shape in the front is punched out
      • From an overlapping area to a non-overlapping area, the shapes are merged, with the color of the merged area being that of the scribble origin point.
    • If the scribble originates from the shape in the back:
      • From a non-overlapping area to an overlapping area, the shapes are merged, with the color of the merged area being that of the scribble origin point.
      Examples of the scribble action with the Shaper tool
      (Left) Scribble action, and (Right) Resulting Shaper Groups

    Selecting shapes in a Shaper Group

    All shapes in a Shaper Group stay editable, even after portions of shapes may have been punched out or merged. The following actions allow you to select individual shapes or the group:

    Face Selection mode

    1. Select the Shaper Tool.

    2. Tap or click on a Shaper Group. The Shaper Group is selected, and a bounding box appears with the Arrow widget .

    3. Tap the shape again (or an individual shape, if individual shapes exist). You are now in Face Selection mode.

    4. If the Shaper Group contains merged shapes, the face of the shape appears matted. You can change the Fill color of shapes.

      Face Selection mode
      Face Selection mode

    Construction Mode

    1. With a Shaper Group selected, do one of the following:

      • Tap or click the Arrow widget so that it appears pointing upwards .
      • Double-click a shape.
      • Single-click a shape's stroke.

    2. With a single underlying object selected, you can modify any property or appearance of the object.

      Construction mode in Illustrator
      Construction mode

    Removing a shape from a Shaper Group

    1. Perform the steps required to get into Construction mode.
    2. Drag and drop a shape out of the bounding box.

    About the Shape Builder Tool

    The Shape Builder tool is an interactive tool for creating complex shapes by merging and erasing simpler shapes. It works on simple and compound paths.

    It intuitively highlights edges and regions of the selected art, which can be merged to form new shapes. An edge is defined as the section of a path, which does not intersect any other path of the selected objects. A region is a closed area bounded by edges.

    By default, the tool is in merge mode where it allows you to combine paths or regions. You can also switch to the erase mode to delete any unwanted edges or regions by pressing Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac).

    Setting the Shape Builder tool options

    You can set up and customize various options such as gap detection, coloring source, and highlighting to get the required merging capability and better visual feedback.

    Double-click the Shape Builder Tool icon in the Tools panel to set these options in the Shape Builder Tool Options dialog box.

    Shape Builder Tool Options dialog box
    Shape Builder Tool Options dialog box

    Gap Detection

    Set the gap length using the Gap Length drop-down list. The values available are Small (3 points), Medium (6 points), and Large (12 points).

    Select the Custom check box if you want to provide an exact gap length.

    When you select the gap length, Illustrator finds the gaps only close to the specified gap length value. Make sure that the gap length value is close (approximately) to the actual gap length of the art. You can check if the gaps are being detected by providing different gap length values until the gaps in the art are detected.

    For example, if you set the gap length to 12 points, whereas the shape that you need to merge contains gaps at 3 points, Illustrator may not detect the gaps.

    The highlighted area shows that the gap is detected and is considered as a region
    The highlighted area shows that the gap is detected and is considered as a region

    Consider Open Filled Paths as Closed

    If this option is selected, an invisible edge is created for an open path to make a region. When you click inside the region, a shape is created.

    In Merge Mode, Clicking the Stroke Splits the Path

    Select the check box, In Merge Mode, Clicking Stroke Splits the Path. This option allows you to split the parent path into two. The first path is created from the edge on which you click and second path is the remaining portion of the parent path excluding the first path. If this option is selected, the pointer changes to , while splitting the path.

    Pick Color From

    You can choose to color objects using the color swatches or the colors used in existing artwork. Use the Pick Color From drop-down list to select the Color Swatches or Artwork option.

    If you select the Color Swatches option, you get the Cursor Swatch Preview option. You can select the Cursor Swatch Preview check box to preview and select colors. A Live Paint style cursor swatch is provided when you select this option. It allows iteration (using the arrow keys) and selecting colors from the swatches panel.

    note: You can iterate using the arrow keys even if the Cursor Swatch Preview is disabled.

    To change the color of the stroke, move the pointer over object edges to highlight and change the color of the stroke. This option works only if the option, In Merge Mode, Clicking Stroke Splits the Path is selected.

    You can select the fill color of a region by pointing anywhere on the document.

    note: The Cursor Swatch Preview is not displayed while merging, to ensure that the shapes are clearly visible.

    If you select the Artwork option, Illustrator uses the same rules that are used for other art styles on merged objects. For more information, see step 6 in Creating shapes using Shape Builder Tool.

    Fill

    The Fill check box is selected by default. If this option is selected, the path or region that you can merge, is highlighted in gray, when you mouse over the selected path. If this option is not selected, the selected region or path appears as normal.

    Highlight Stroke When Editable

    If this option is selected, Illustrator highlights the strokes that you can edit. The editable stroke appears in the color that you choose from the Color drop-down list.

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