Subtracting a "donut" from another shape?

Adobe Creative Cloud

Hey guys sorry for the delayed response. I ended up just making it a png, image tracing it, then trying it again with success. Sorry for the nobody solution but it accomplished what I needed perfectly. I'll still grab the original file and upload it.

...the only possible reason why a compound path would look like that is duplicate paths.

Actually, that's not the only possible reason. Similar problems often occur in Illustrator due to improperly set winding rules. But that's why the file needs to be examined to find out what exactly is going on. Sloppy use of Pathfinders can result in all kinds of confused constructs.

Otherwise, step back to your original paths before your use of Pathfinders. Then select all (including the dark "background" object) and try clicking the Merge Pathfinder. If that seems to yield what you want, then select the fills of any paths that you want to be "transparent" regions and delete them.

But yeah, like Monika, I much prefer to explain what a problem is so it can be avoided in the future, rather than just provide some guessing-game fix that just happens to work for the immediate situation.

JET

Tyler,

As I (mis)understand it, with features drawn in black and forming a Group (or Compound Path), regardless of structure (stroked paths/filled paths of whichever kinds and compositions), you may select everything, then in the Transparency palette flyout click Make Opacity Mask with both Clip and Invert Mask ticked.

You want his face to punch through the white circle?

Make a compound path.