: How to create overlapping objects in Illustrator CC I am trying to create a turbine engine in Illustrator with overlapping fan blades, but whenever I rotate the object around the center, I get

@Gloria351

Here is what I do in those cases:


Duplicate that one last offending blade.
Place the duplicate exactly on top of the offending blade using the align tools.
Select the duplicate and the first blade together (not the last one).
Use Pathfinder -> "Minus Front" to cut the overlapping area out of the first blade. The duplicate disappears after it is used up by the pathfinder. The last blade stays in place with the overlapping area missing, creating the desired effect.


This is a simplified illustration of your problem. The blue blade is the first one. The green blade is the last one. The red blade on the second step is the duplicate, placed exactly on top of the green one. In the last step, I have made a copy of the blue blade so you see what I meant by "cut out the overlapping area".

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@Goswami567

Try drawing the blade shape manually with the pen tool instead of using a stroke and see if that does the trick.

Also, you can try using the shape with the stroke, but before you starting rotating and duplicating, expand the stroke.

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@Si6392903

It's not the most elegant solution, but you may have to slice that final (top) fan blade into two peices and move the left half of it to the back.

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