*Technique
TECHNIQUE: Threading an Eyelet with Ribbon
By Jacqueline Sheppet 2004
Apr 16, 2005, 04:16

With a careful eye and a few strokes of the mouse you can achieve the illusion of a ribbon being passed through an eyelet in PhotoImpact. In fact, this tutorial could equally apply to anything that has the illusion of threading, whether it be a charm on a chain, or a buckle on a ribbon. The technique and tools used are all the same.

So here is an eyelet and a ribbon. Note, the ribbon is selected. Click on the eyelet to select it.

You may prefer to work up close at a magnification of about 75 – 100% so that you can see the eyelet clearly as you work. Note the eyelet is now selected.

Select the Object Paint Eraser Tool. This tool erases parts of your objects on the sections you click and hold the mouse. If you make a mistake, there is a Recover button in the menu bar that undoes your erasing provided you have not left the erasing mode.

You can see in the picture below, I erased part of the eyelet on the right side to create the impression that the ribbon was threaded through the eyelet. That small circle you see is the erase tool. I used the circle set at a size small enough to control but still large enough to remove a nice sized section without spending too long erasing individual pixels.

Finally with nothing selected, here is my final product. It looks quite authentic. Of course adding a slight shadow behind either object may also help add some realism.