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06 | Subtracting Shapes
With the Selection Tool, select the electric green shape and press the Shift key to select the gray shape below as well. Do not drag a selection marquee around these shapes as you will most likely select the white shape (beneath the gray) as well. You only want to select the top two shapes.
From the Pathfinder palette, press the Alt/Option key while you click on the Subtract from shape area command. Illustrator 9 users, click the Minus Front command. This will delete the part of the gray shape that was beneath the electric green shape leaving us with the result shown.
It's likely an unwanted piece or two of the gray shape will remain. To delete this, select the gray shape and choose Object > Ungroup, click on the offending remnant and press the Delete key.
07 | Soften the Look
This step is optional but can help soften the look of the cloud. Choose the gray shape and choose Effect > Blur > Gaussian Blur. In the dialog box that appears, enter a value of 4 for Radius and click OK.
08 | Apply a Drop Shadow
Select only the white shape and choose Effect > Stylize > Drop Shadow. Enter the values shown and click OK. The blue I use for the shadow color is R:0 G:102 B:204.
So that you can move your cloud around, select the gray and white shapes (Ctrl/Cmd + A) and group them (Object > Group or Ctrl/Cmd + G). Now, print a copy of your clouds, hang it on the refrigerator and bask in the warm glow of admiring friends and family.
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To add a little roughness to your cloud, apply the Roughen (Effect > Distort & Transform > Roughen) effect to it. Use low values to keep things in check. In the dialog box that appears, use 1% for size, set it to Relative, use 2/in for Detail and choose Smooth points.
