Illustrator noob, how do i do this?

[jaybird77]

Hi all,

Hoping someone can point me in the right direction. I'm a long time Photoshop user and trying to learn Illustrator.

I have a task that I could do ok in Photoshop but I can't get my head around it in Illustrator.

Here's a simple example of the task. I have two filled circles, one big and one small.

Each is on a different layer.

I put the smaller on `top` of the bigger.

The key thing now is that I want to remove the part of the bigger circle that is no longer visible due to being covered up by the smaller circle.

So in Photoshop I would `select all` in the smaller circle layer, click on the layer that only the bigger circle is on (moving the selection to this layer), and then click on "cut".

Visibly, the image looks no different, but if I move the smaller circle I can see the removal of area underneath.

Is this possible or easily achieved in Illustrator? I need this done as pixel-perfect as possible.

Thanks!

[Ton Frederiks]

Have a look at the Pathfinder panel.

How to combine objects in Illustrator

In this case Divide would do the trick.

[jaybird77]

This is a little vague...?

[Ton Frederiks · Accepted solution]

The Pathfinder lets you combine objects.

Select both circles and click Divide in the Pathfinder panel.

Ungroup.

[jaybird77]

Ok, that got me there, thank you!