Not surprisingly, the Curvature tool works only with curves. Whether you’re a little more advanced with Illustrator and are a frequent user of the pen tool, or completely new to the program, definitely check out the Curvature tool. The Curvature tool is just like the pen tool, but a little bit easier. Oh, and we can also add colors quickly and easily to our newly created shapes. Now instead of the shapes blending into one, we eliminate the pieces we don’t need. To get it to do the opposite (which is what Dan does in the video), hold down the option button if you’re on a Mac (alt. Simply select the Shape Builder and draw a line through the shapes you want to morph into one. It replaces all the trials and errors, the undos and the redos, to bringing your shapes together. If you’re buddy-buddy with the pathfinder, shape builder just might be your new best friend.

So what is the Shape Builder for? It’s meant to replace the pathfinder.

The Shape Builder tool can also be used with any tool in Illustrator, but in this video, Dan pairs it with the ellipse tool to create some pretty good lookin’ curves. If you’ve got the latest version of Illustrator, you’re already starting off on the right foot. Daniel Scott is a certified Adobe instructor, and he’s sharing the top five Illustrator tools that we need to know today.

Illustrator design