How to Use Intertwine | Adobe Illustrator

With the release of Adobe Illustrator 27.0 in October 2022 Adobe released a feature called intertwine, which reorders or overlaps text, shapes, and objects in the artwork. This is especially practical in a number of applications which were previously time consuming.

The Problem

Before, if you wanted to overlap shapes in an alternating or complex way you would have to work with the pathfinder and or shape builder and dissect the shapes/strokes/etc. and reorder from bottom to top.

The Solution

Now, the solution is rather simple, utilizing the intertwine tool. Thankfully this is a simple four step process that greatly improves the efficiency.

Step One: Open Illustrator Document

Go ahead and open the Illustrator document with the shapes, text, etc. or create a new document and overlap the desired shapes.

Step Two: Select All Shapes to be Intertwined

Now, go ahead and select all the paths that are to be intertwined with one another. Any shape not selected may not be available for use.

Step Three: Select the Intertwine Option

Next, select Object > Intertwine > Make from the menu.

Step Four: Intertwine Objects

A lasso tool will be displayed that is used to circle the overlap which will reverse the path order. Once the paths are intertwined the objects will be grouped together.

Conclusion

Adobe launching this feature is definitely a nice addition to the program. Before, utilizing pathfinder to break up all the paths and then merge and manage the layering of each path/shape was time consuming and did not feel overly efficient for what should be a simple task. Simply circling two overlapping paths to reverse the order is a simply efficient solution. Check out our other articles on the 27.0 update: Copy and Paste Between Illustrator and InDesign (coming soon) and Quick Actions (coming soon).