: How can I remove part of a shape in Illustrator? I'm trying to remove the dark grey background out of the center of this blue shape. I don't know how to select the inner part of the graphic

@Shanna688

First if all select all then go to object->expand appearance
2) having all selected select shape builder tool from the tool box and drag it on the area which you dont want it will automatically be separated and then you can delete it by selecting using the Tool direct selection shortcut (A)

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@Alves566

You're going to have to draw in where you want it to be removed using the Pen tool. Its a pretty easy shape luckily so you should be able to do that easy enough. Just click on each point without dragging the mouse. Dragging the mouse will create curves which you don't need in this case.

Then in the Transparency Panel (Window → Transparency if its not already open somewhere) click on the top right for more options and choose Page Knockout Group. Then just press Clip.

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@Nimeshi706

Since there is currently no path data to actually delete, you will need to draw the area you want to remove. You can do this with the Pen Tool, Rectangle Tool or whatever else, just make sure that you have a closed shape.



Select both the grey background object and your newly drawn window object. You can do this in the layers panel if it is easier (select by clicking the circle, not just the row):



Open the Pathfinder panel (Window → Pathfinder). The second "Shape Mode" button is "Minus Front", which will cut the top object out of the bottom object. Select this.



As you can see in the layers panel, this is now a single shape, with the "window" cut out of the background (it looks the same since it was a white shape and the artboard background is white, but it is now actually a hole—i.e transparent).

You can read more about Pathfinder and other methods of combining shapes here:


Illustrator Help / How to combine objects in Illustrator

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@Shanna688

Use the pathfinder tool. To open the pathfinder panel: Window > Pathfinder.

The shape you want to cut should be in the back (the blue rectangle in my example below). In your case you have to draw the exact shape you want to cut out and place it in the front (the circle, in my example below).

Select both shapes, go into the options panel to the right and click the 'minus-front' button.



If you have any questions let me know.

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