Creating compounds

Compounds provide a flexible approach to creating a variety of shapes from separate objects using Boolean operations.

Unlike joining objects, creating a Compound is a non-destructive process. This means a Compound can be added to, or broken apart, at any time. Objects within the Compound can also be removed and modified without restriction, if and when desired.

Objects within a Compound interact with each other depending on their individual compound mode. This mode can be changed at any time; each mode can be previewed in realtime on selection.

Compound modes

There are various operations available:

Add—expands Compound by adding the object's area to all objects below. This is the default mode.

Add

Objects before and after operation.

Intersect—modifies Compound by only showing overlapping areas of selected object and objects below.

Intersect

Objects before and after operation.

Subtract—reduces Compound by removing the object's area from all objects below.

Subtract

Objects before and after operation.

Xor—modifies Compound by creating a composite shape, with transparent areas where object overlaps with objects below.

Xor

Objects before and after operation.
Add Subtract Intersect Combine To create a Compound:
  1. Select multiple objects.
  2. Hold down the . On the Toolbar, click Add, Subtract, Intersect or Xor.
  3. Hold down the and do one of the following:
    • From the Layer>Geometry menu, select Add (Compound), Intersect (Compound), Subtract (Compound) or Xor (Compound).
    • On the Toolbar, click Add, Subtract, Intersect or Xor.
To change the compound mode of individual objects:
  1. In the Layers panel, click the object's compound mode icon.
  2. Select a compound mode from the pop-up menu.
To add an object to a Compound:

The object is included in the Compound using the default Add mode.

To remove an object from a Compound:
To break up a Compound:
  1. In the Layers panel, drag all the layers from inside the compound object to a layer outside the compound object.
  2. Delete the empty compound object's layer.

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