Creating Transparent Circle within a Square

[_Linda_Vonhof_]

I am using Illustrator CS and need to make a colored square with a transparent circle within the square. I am importing the file into Quark and will then put a graphic in the circle. The colored background cannot show through the circle. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to do this? Thanks.

[Scott Falkner]

Look up Compound Path or Pathfinder in the help files.

[_Linda_Vonhof_]

The circle is transparent with a solid black outline, which is correct, but the background square is still showing through. I need to combine both together and make sure the center is transparent. I'm not familiar with clipping masks and I can't understand how to use the pallets.

I've tried to make a circle/square in photoshop which is great, but when I save and retrieve it in Illustrator the circle is solid white, not transparent.

[Steve Fairbairn]

Draw your square.
Draw your circle on top of it.
Select both and Cmd+8 (Object: Compound Path, Make). Now you've got a square with a round hole in it. Both objects have now become a single compound object with the same fill colour.
If you want a black stroke on only the circle, select the circle with the white arrow tool and Alt held down.
With nothing selected, paste in front (Cmd+F) and give it a stroke but no fill. Now group everything together and bingo!