June 5, 2025 (Updated April 19, 2026)Dan Rodney/3 min read

What’s Behind the Green Door?

Illustrator Best Practices

0/4

Outline fonts before sending to print

Type → Create Outlines locks in the typeface.

Use Global swatches

Edit a color once, update every object that uses it.

Name your layers

Default 'Layer 1' tells nobody anything when you reopen later.

Save regularly

Cmd+S — Illustrator can crash on complex files.

Master Illustrator at Noble Desktop

Noble Desktop's Illustrator Bootcamp teaches the Pen tool, vector drawing, and pro illustration.

Explore the fundamental concepts of compound paths and group selection tools in Illustrator with our step-by-step tutorial, as we transform an illustration of doors by adding circular windows.

Topics Covered in This Illustrator Tutorial:

Compound Paths, the Group Selection Tool

Exercise Preview

Exercise Overview

In this exercise, we are going to start with an illustration of three doors and add circular windows that reveal an image layer beneath each door. Compound Paths in Illustrator make this a snap.

In the Illustrator Class folder, open the file open-doors.ai.
Save as yourname-open-doors.ai.
In the dialog that appears, leave the default options checked and click OK.

Paths Within Paths

Select the Ellipse tool .
Option–click (Mac) or ALT–click (Windows) in the center of the dark green rectangle in Door 1. Make sure to only click once (don’t click and drag).
In the Ellipse options, change the Width and Height to 2 in and click OK.
With the Selection tool , select the circle you just made and Shift–click on the dark green rectangle behind it.
Go to Object > Compound Path > Make to reveal an image that was hidden on a layer beneath the doors. A Compound Path works sort of like a cookie cutter, removing a shape from another object. Let’s do that again!

Creating a Second Compound Path

Select the Ellipse tool .
Option–click (Mac) or ALT–click (Windows) in the center of Door 2’s dark panel. Make sure to only click once (don’t click and drag).
In the Ellipse options, change the Width and Height to 1.75 in. Click OK.
Select the circle and Shift–click the rectangle, and then go to Object > Compound Path > Make. Nifty!

Editing Compound Paths

A great thing about compound paths is that they’re still editable after you create them. If you make one in the wrong place or the wrong size, there’s no need to start over from the beginning.

Once more with the Ellipse tool , Option–click (Mac) or ALT–click (Windows) in the center of the dark panel on Door 3.
Change the Width and Height to 1.5 in and click OK.
Select the circle/rectangle in Door 3 and go to Object > Compound Path > Make.
There’s probably more of that elephant behind the door that we can’t see. Deselect by clicking off the artwork, then use the Group Selection tool to select the circle. (You may have to click directly on the path to select it.)
With the circle selected, switch to the Selection tool . A bounding box appears.
Mouse over a corner of the bounding box and then to resize it, Shift–click and drag as shown below (holding down Shift keeps the circle from becoming distorted).
After resizing the circle, use the Group Selection tool to position the circle so that you can see more of the elephant.
Save the file.