How can I combine the paths with a shape?

[Filip5FC6]

Hey community,

I am very new to Adobe Illustrator and I am still trying to understand this difficult program.

For a presentation in school, I am trying to draw a neuron cell with this tutorial on youtube. 

Unfortunately, I am stuck at 5:45, where the creator of the video is combining the paths with the "cell body" using the pathfinder. But if I use this, illustrator combines the shapes to this weird shape: 

I think it does this because I didn't expandet the paths or something, but I can't find the "Expand" option in my illustrator.

Can someone help me please?

Thank you very much!

[Anshul_Saini]

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out. You can find expand option under the Object menu. If it is greyed out, then you have not selected the elements, or they are already expanded.

Also, you may visit this help article (https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/combining-objects.html) to learn more about combing paths in Illustrator.

Let us know if you need any further assistance. We'd be happy to help.

Thanks & Regards,

Anshul Saini

[Filip5FC6 · Accepted solution]

I figured out now how to make it work. I don't know why, but I need to expand the path before I create some other paths. 

[Anshul_Saini]

We are glad to hear that. Please feel free to reach out if you run into any other questions or issues in the future. We'd be happy to help.

Regards,

Anshul Saini