How to Combine a Line and a Closed Shape in Illustrator
Combine a line and a closed shape in Adobe Illustrator to unite the two objects so that they become one. Simple paths such as lines must be expanded into closed shapes before you can merge them with closed shapes, regardless of how fine the line happens to be, although too fine of a line may not yield good results when it's time to print the artwork or display it online. So consider combining closed shapes with lines that have stroke width of at least one point for best results.
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Instructions
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Launch Adobe Illustrator, and choose "File" and "Open." Then, find the file that contains the artwork you desire to combine, and open it by clicking "Open."
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Select the line to be merged into a closed shape with the "Direct Selection" tool. Choose "Window," and "Stroke," then verify that this line has a stroke weight of at least one point.
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Expand the line by choosing "Object," and "Expand Appearance." Deselect the line by clicking in a blank area of the canvas. Switch to the "Group Selection" tool, and select the line's outline.
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Nudge the outline away from the original line's path with the "Down" arrow, and deselect it. Select the remaining line path, and delete it.
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Position the line's outline over or under the closed shape with the active selection tool.
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Hold the "Shift" key and click the closed shape to make it an active selection. The closed shape and the line outline should both be active selections.
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Combine the closed shape and the line with a Pathfinder effect. Choose "Add" from the Pathfinder panel, or any other desired Pathfinder effect. Choose "Object" and "Expand Appearance" to finalize merging the two objects together.
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