i have 2 square shapes on my artborad. each square shape has its own gradient fill. i would like to merge these 2 shapes to form a single shape. not a groupe of shapes, but a single, flattened (compounded?) object.
the gradient of the first square includes a zero-alpha. the second image is the two shapes simply layered, but i want to basically flatten them together to form one shape.
what steps are involved in merging these shapes to form one shape so that their gradients are unaffected by merging with the other?