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Cutting objects


    The Divide Objects Below command in the Object menu and the knife tool in the toolbox cut objects in a designated shape. The Divide Objects Below command lets you use a selected object as a cookie cutter or stencil to cut through other objects. It discards the original selection.

    The knife tool cuts objects along a freehand path you draw with the tool, dividing objects into their component filled faces (a face is an area undivided by a line segment).

To cut objects by using the Divide Objects Below command:

  1. Select the object to use as a cutter, and position it so that it touches the object to cut. (To retain the original selection, save a copy elsewhere in your document.) The object cuts any filled object that it's touching.
  2. To cut the object, choose Object > Path > Divide Objects Below. The shapes that result are ungrouped and selected.

To cut objects by using the knife tool:

  1. Select the knife tool  the knife tool .
  2. Do one of the following:
    • To cut in a curved path, drag the pointer over the object.
    • To cut in a straight path, hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) as you click on the artboard with the knife tool. Then drag.