Pathfinder Tool - Minus Front (Front shape outline not included)

I'm having some difficulty applying the Minus Front option of the Pathfinder tool with a front shape that contains an outline with rounded points.
Question: Is there a way to preserve the rounded outline + front shape as part of the final shape when applying the Minus Front Pathfinder option?
To recreate:
1. Create background shape (Orange box)
2. Add front shape with outline containing rounded points (Star shape)
3. Select background and front shape and apply the Minus Front Pathfinder tool option.
4. Rounded outline from front shape not transferred to final shape after pathfinder action is applied.

You might find this thread helpful:
outlining text
The Pathfinder functions don't take into account "appearances" applied to the underlying object, so you would have to convert the object to a single outermost path. Usually this can be done with one or two invocations of Object > Expand.
Allen

Similar Messages

Pathfinder for shapes only? Can't minus front object from back...

Hi. I'm trying to minus the shape of the brown 'steam swirl' from the black swirl behind. I tried minus front in pathfinder but a warning pop-up says "the filter produced no results. Please select 2 intersecting paths" How are the two objects not intersecting? I tried deleting the brown object and simply have no fill on the black swirl but it dosen't look good. Any ideas?

Sure, Monika, but it's just what the screenshot shows and there it is pretty obvious what objects are meant.
As it is not obvious about what specific objects we are talking in the sample file, I'd suggest another approach.
Select the black shape, go to Object > Path > Outline Stroke, then in the Pathfinder panel Unite (Add to Shape). Then select both the beige and black shape and do Pathfinder Subtract. Or just create a compound path
One could also use the Pathfinder effects in that case.

Shape Mode - Minus front tool.

Hi
Im having problems with the minus front tool in llustrator, when I use this tool on a shape ( the shape on the bottom which I am trying to cut) which has an effect on it such as an inner glow, the tool simply doesn't work. I have tried on several different shapes and with different effects and am getting the same result. Is there an alternative way to cut the shape with another shape like I am trying to do? Without me having to redraw the shape without the effects on it?
Thanks
Rebecca

There is no before and after the tool does not work.
But here is what happens when I try

PAthfinder Minus front

I'm still working on a key project and I am yet agsin unable to complete because of Minus Front Pathfinder.
Here are the steps:
I'm following this tutorial and am on 4. Add Shading and Highlights for Your Main Shapes
http://design.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-create-a-detailed-key-illustration-in-adobe-il lustrator--cms-23065

Becky,
What happens if you use Pathfinder>Divide, then Ungroup and delete the unwanted paths?
I am beginning to wonder whether it may be a case for the list.
The following is a general list of things you may try when the issue is not in a specific file, and when it is not caused by issues with opening a file from external media. You may have tried/done some of them already; 1) and 2) are the easy ones for temporary strangenesses, and 3) and 4) are specifically aimed at possibly corrupt preferences); 5) is a list in itself, and 6) is the last resort.
If possible/applicable, you should save current artwork first, of course.
1) Close down Illy and open again;
2) Restart the computer (you may do that up to at least 5 times);
3) Close down Illy and press Ctrl+Alt+Shift/Cmd+Option+Shift during startup (easy but irreversible);
4) Move the folder (follow the link with that name) with Illy closed (more tedious but also more thorough and reversible), for CS3 - CC you may find the folder here:
https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/kb/preference-file-location-illustrator.html
5) Look through and try out the relevant among the Other options (follow the link with that name, Item 7) is a list of usual suspects among other applications that may disturb and confuse Illy, Item 15) applies to CC, CS6, and maybe CS5);
Even more seriously, you may:
6) Uninstall (ticking the box to delete the preferences), run the Cleaner Tool (if you have CS3/CS4/CS5/CS6/CC), and reinstall.
http://www.adobe.com/support/contact/cscleanertool.html

"Minus Front" a simple shape on top of a complex clipping mask

I have a clipping path that is made up of:
1. a complex assortment of vector shapes (a pattern) and
2. a simple shape on top.
My pattern appears to be inside the simple shape, because of the clipping mask.
Now, I'd like to "punch-out" a shape in the middle of my clipping path, and have that punch-out be transparent. After creating my punch-out shape, I drag it to the same layer that has the clipping mask, select both (the clipping mask is below the punch-out shape), and slect "minus front" from the pathfinder window.
It's not working.
Any advice is much appreciated.

bovine wrote:
... it's almost completly gone.
It is hard to imagine how an almost completely gone object looks like in the Layer's panel
See the little blue squares highlighted in the image, they indicate selected objects . This is called the Selection Column in the Layers panel. You can select any object with equal ease by clicking on the selection column - the red arrow points to the spot you can click to select that path.
Also, another alternative method to make what you want is to make the punch out shape with 0 opacity, put it above and in the same group as the clipping path and in the Transparency panel click in the box in front of the Knockout Group until a checkmark appears.

Shape distorted after using Minus-Front

Hello -
I have a white rectangle with black type on top. When I try to mask out the type so that the background color shows through the rectangle, the shape of the mask is distorted. The text was outlined before doing [pathfinder-minus front] and it looked fine before doing pathfinder. After pathfinder the shape is distorted. Notice the E, the Z and the J.
Why is this happening? It's really frustrating. Thanks for the help.

YES!! Thank you!!!

Weird minus front thing going on when pdf saved in ID cs4 on mac

I have an indesign cs4 file with a couple layers. one the bottom layer is eps file with some shapes in it. On the layer above is a tif (product image) and it happens to be above the shapes in the eps file. When i export it as pdf the shapes knock the color out of the product image so its half white. Its acting sort of like the minus front pathfinder in illustrator but with colors. Its driving me crazy.

Not sure but I would try resaving that EPS as native AI file and see what happens. Also your flattening and PDF export settings will play a big role in this, I imagine.

Minus Front From Two Layers

I am currently following a tutorial to create some illustrations. One part of this tutorial makes use of the minus-front function with the pathfinder. An ellipse apparently needs to be "subtracted" from the bottom right-hand corner of a rectangle and its outline rectangle the lays behind it. I am unsure as to how to subtract the ellipse from both of those layers as it appears it can only be subtracted from one using the pathfinder.
Here are the steps in the tutorial:
Step 3 is what I am having trouble with.
All help is appreciated!
Thanks,
Alex

Alex,
To use the way described, you have to select one ellipse/circle for each underlying path and apply Minus Front to each set.
It should be noted that there are other ways of getting the appearance described.

Minus front/back issue

Hey guys, I am a newbee in Illustrator. Currently I am following a tutorial. I know most of the basic functions. But lately I have a irritating issue and cant seem to find a logical solution on internet too, of course I tried them. here are the details>>>
1.I have created a polygon with 150px radius. black stroke and yellow fill. then applied round corner effect from effects>stylize.
2.next I went to object>expand appearance.
3. then created another small polygon(75px radius) on the first one
(I want to subtract this small polygon from bigger polygon. both of these are, of course ungrouped)
4. I selected both polygons using shift+click and clicked minus front in pathfinder
and error pops up, 'filter produced no results, select two or more intersecting paths'
what am I doing wrong?
P.S. weird thing is, sometimes this filter works and sometimes I get above error for the same 5th step
I have started feeling its an issue of Illustrator...is it?
tutorial that I am following>> http://www.vectorcove.com/tutorials/icon-design/logo-design-in-adobe-illustrator/

i think the problem is your expanded first shape is now a group consisting of a stroked object and a filled object., and the stroked object perfectly overlays the filled one (since they used to be a single object). so when you try to minus front, you'd end up with no shapes, as one of your shapes in front perfectly overlaps the shape at the back.
edit: yeah, looking at the tutorial, they didn't use a stroked object.

Can't select Subtract Front Shape from Path Operations

In Lesson 8, p. 186 of Adobe Photoshop CC 2014 Release, Classroom in a Book, I can't uncheck New Layers and Re-check Subtract Front Shape in the Path Operations Pop-Up Menu. Help!
Thank you so much.

I believe this is a bug in the software. But if you click "Subtract Front Shape," once you use the pen tool to select Point A, you'll see that the icon for "Subtract Front Shape" appears in the options bar. It drove me nuts trying to figure this out, but that's what the "solution" was for me. If you think about it, you can't really set an option on a shape until the shape is initially created, so that's probably why the option doesn't show up until you click a point. The book's errata should be updated to mention this.

Minus front from multiple layers

Hello, I am trying to subtract a "distressed" layer (A) from several other layers (B,C,D) at once. I would like to punch through layers (B,C,D) with layer (A).
I was able to expand font & expand stroke - Then minus front with success.
However, when I expand all layers, select all layers, hold (alt) & Minus Front
I get mixed results, such as missing layers from (B,C,D).
What would be the best way to achieve this? Thank you
White = Distressed layer (A)
Black = Layers (B,C,D)
Orange = Locked Background Color

since you are using Photoshop for mockups and you need the black art to be transparent--here is (what I hope) is a useful idea:
simply build your art using white (as in your original post) then save yourself a lot of time and effort by doing this--turn off the background layer and 'export' art as a high resolution (say 1200 dpi) graysacle tiff--then open the tiff in Photoshop and convert it to a 1-bit tiff--using '50% Threshold' setting (which will be transparent and just black).
you can then drop the 1 bit into an illustrator file with a colored background and save as PDF or export as jpeg, tiff, png etc (but don't save over the original Illus document--use a different name)
note: the 1200 dpi 1-bit tiff should yield you a a decent film positive or you can print the black layer only (from Illustrator) with the background turned off
there will be no loss of resolution!

Subtract Front Shape after drawing the shapes?

Hi,
i can't figure out how to subtract the front shape from two already drawn shapes. I can draw a shape, choose "Subtract Front Shape" from the menu and then draw the second shape. But what if the two shapes are already there and i wanna subtract the front shape from the other. Please don't tell me, thats it's not possible ...
Mario

Fireworks (and any other simple drawing application) is also able to do that. Why not Photoshop? It's the same like rounded rectangles. There's no possibility to change the radius (or to subtract shapes in this case) after drawing. Every time i try to use Photoshop as a replacement for Fireworks in webdesign i discover a new problem like this. Very disappointing.
Mario

I have done absalutely nothing to my 4g apple ipod touch, and it over heats, won't hold a charge, and the front camera will not work. I bought this brand new in december, and i've barely used it. I've tried restarting it and everything, what should i do?

I have done absalutely nothing to my 4g apple ipod touch, and it over heats, won't hold a charge, and the front camera will not work. I bought this brand new in december, and i've barely used it. I've tried restarting it and everything, I honestly think this is out raging because i spend over $200 on this. To have for music and instagram. I use it about an hour a day, but i've only been using it for about 3 months although i've had it since December. Any suggestions that may help me?

Try:
- A reset. Nothing is lost
Reset iPod touch: Hold down the On/Off button and the Home button at the same time for at
least ten seconds, until the Apple logo appears.
- Restore from backup
- Restore to factory settings/new iPod
If still problem make an appointment at the Genius Bar of an Apple store.

I don't know what's wrong with my camara it's all black and the front only works not the back

I don't know what's wrong with my camara it's all black and the front only works not the back

Try This...
Close All Open Apps... Sign Out of your Account... Perform a Reset... Try again...
Reset ( No Data will be Lost )
Press and Hold the Sleep/Wake Button and the Home Button at the Same Time...
Wait for the Apple logo to Appear...
Usually takes about 15 - 20 Seconds... ( But can take Longer...)
Release the Buttons...

My iPod Touch Front Camera Is Not Working Properly.

My iPod Touch Front Camera Is Not Working Properly.When I Try To Take A Picture ,It's Very ,Very Blurry. When I Put My Finger Close To The Camera It Looks Perfect. You Can See My Skin Lines{I Dont Know What They're Actually Called} It's Like It I Had It On Zoom Or Something . My Back Camera Is Perfect,And When I Put My Finger Close Its Just Blurry. Can You Help? I've Tried Everything ,Cleaning It, And Reseting It.
Please Help.
Thank You.

The poster said he has iOS 5.1 which is the latest update.
apple81 wrote:
Hi: I had the same problem but it was fixed by performing software upgrade iOS 5. Go to settings-general-slect-update software.. Fixed it right way and now is even better with more features..

Pathfinder Tool - Minus Front (Front shape outline not included)

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