How to Remove Part of a Stroke in Illustrator

There are a couple of ways that you can do this.

• Using the Scissor Tool
• Using the Pathfinder Panel
• Using the Eraser Tool

Removing Part of a Stroke with the Scissor Tool

This is what I did in the above screen recording:

1. Select the Scissors Tool () from the toolbar or press the keyboard shortcut (c).
2. Click the two points to indicate the part of the stroke that you want to remove.
3. Select the Selection Tool () from the toolbar or press the keyboard shortcut (v).
4. Click the part that you cut with Scissors Tool and press the delete or backspace key.

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Removing Part of a Stroke with the Pathfinder Panel

1. Select your stroke with the Selection Tool () from the toolbar or press the keyboard shortcut (c).
2. Go to Object -> Path -> Outline Stroke to turn the stroke into a fill.
3. Draw a shape over your stroke.
4. Select both shapes with the Selection Tool or press the keyboard shortcut (v).
5. In the Pathfinder Panel, click the Minus Front Button ().

Removing Part of a Stroke with the Eraser Tool

To do this, you would follow steps 1 and 2 in the section above, then select the Eraser Tool () or press the keyboard shortcut (Shift + e), and erase whatever part of the stroke you want.

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