Adobe ILLUSTRATOR 10 Using Manual page 144

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When you create a compound shape, it takes on the paint and transparency attributes of
the topmost component in Add, Intersect, or Exclude mode. Subsequently, you can
change the paint, style, or transparency attributes of the compound shape. Illustrator facil-
itates this process by automatically targeting the whole compound shape when you select
any part of it, unless you explicitly target a component in the Layers palette. Releasing the
compound shape reveals each path's previous paint attributes. Expanding a compound
shape creates a simple path or a compound path. (See
page 145.)
To create a compound shape using the Make Compound Shape command:
1 Choose Window > Pathfinder.
2 Select all of the objects to include in the compound shape.
3 Choose Make Compound Shape from the Pathfinder palette menu. The resulting shape
appears in the Layers palette as a <Compound Shape>.
4 Use the direct-selection tool and select a component of the compound shape (except
for the backmost component, because its mode is never relevant).
5 In the Pathfinder palette, click a Shape Modes button. The shape changes accordingly.
6 Repeat steps 4 and 5 for each component, except the backmost component, until you
obtain the desired combination of shape areas.
Note: To sustain maximum performance, create complex compound shapes by nesting
other compound shapes (containing up to about 10 components each) instead of using
many individual components.
To create a compound shape using only Shape Modes buttons:
1 Choose Window > Pathfinder.
2 Select all the objects you want to be part of the compound shape.
3 In the Pathfinder palette, click a Shape Modes button.
A compound shape is automatically created with the selected objects as its components.
It appears in the Layers palette as a <Compound Shape>. Each component is assigned the
shape mode that you selected. This method is useful when you want most of the compo-
nents to use the same mode. However, at this point, you can still change the mode of any
component, except the backmost component.
To modify a compound shape:
1 Use the direct-selection tool to select an individual component of the compound
shape.
2 Look for the highlighted Shape Modes button in the Pathfinder palette to identify
which mode is currently applied to a selected component.
Note: If you've selected two or more components that use different modes, question
marks appear on the Shape Modes buttons.
3 In the Pathfinder palette, click a different Shape Modes button.
To undo a compound shape and release its components:
1 With the selection tool, select the compound shape to release.
2 Choose Release Compound Shape from the Pathfinder palette menu.
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