Athanor by arbastro
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How to combine shapes

Select two or more closed shapes, such as rectangles or ellipses, and choose Object › Combine shapes › Union, Subtract, Intersect or Exclude (Alt+Shift+U, S, I or E).

Steps

  1. Draw two or more closed shapes that overlap, such as rectangles from the Annotate tool's shapes. See the pen and shapes.

  2. Select them all.

    Two overlapping rectangles selected, listed in Layers.Two overlapping rectangles selected, listed in Layers.

  3. Choose one from Main menu › Object › Combine shapes:

Command Shortcut Keeps
Union Alt+Shift+U Everything either shape covers
Subtract Alt+Shift+S The first shape minus the others
Intersect Alt+Shift+I Only where they overlap
Exclude Alt+Shift+E Where they do not overlap

After Exclude: one shape, named Exclude in Layers, where the overlap is cut away.After Exclude: one shape, named Exclude in Layers, where the overlap is cut away.

The result is one shape, named after the command in Layers.

Note

Combine shapes works on closed shapes such as rectangles, ellipses and polygons. Brackets, frames and lines are not closed shapes, so they are not combined.

Figures, diagrams and documentsHow to draw with the pen and shapesPick the Annotate tool (the pen in the tool bar). Choose pen for freehand ink, path for smooth curves, or the shapes button, set the color and thickness, and draw.Selection and arrangingHow to select atoms, structures and objectsPress V. Click takes a whole structure, Marquee (M) takes only the atoms inside the box you drag, and Lasso (L) takes whatever you draw around. Select all is Ctrl+A, and Shift+click adds to the selection.

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Last updated Nov 12, 2026