How to Create Shapes from Multiple Paths in Adobe Illustrator

Illustrator provides tools and commands for merging multiple paths together. In this tutorial, we'll look at ways of combining open paths using the Join command.

1. Here are three lines, with gaps between each, that I want to connect.
2. First, I'll choose the Direct Selection Tool.
3. Joins are applied to anchor points. I'll click on the anchor point at the end of one line, then Shift-click on the anchor point at the end of another line.
4. To connect them, I'll go to Object > Path > Join
5. I'll repeat to join the other side of the horizontal line to the vertical line to the right, and here's the result. You can see that because there was space between the lines, new line segments were created.
6. If the anchor points of two paths are directly on top each other, the anchor points will be merged into one point. The easiest way to select the overlapping anchor points is draw a marquee around them with the Direct Selection Tool.
7. There are shortcuts for the Join command. You can either right-click on the selected anchor points and choose Join, or use the keyboard shortcut, Ctrl-J.