Threading Ribbon/Fibre in DIP

©kimlizzy 2004

Open a new canvas and size to suit:

Open your eyelet or button image and drag it onto the canvas. Duplicate as needed and arrange as required.

Lock the layers together:

Hold down the Ctrl key and left click on each eyelet/button in the stack.

Now right click on the stack and "Group". Alternatively you can click on the puzzle piece that appears underneath your image.

**Alternative method: Use the eyelet stamp as I did for the purpose of this tutorial: Effects>Paintbrush>Stamps. If you use the stamping method you won’t need to lock the eyelets together as they are automatically on one layer.

Insert your ribbon then move it to the bottom of the stack by left clicking on the ribbon layer in the stack and dragging it underneath the eyelet layer.

Making sure only the eyelet layer is selected go to:

Effects>Transparent Fade>Transparency Brush.

Select a brush size to suit and drag the slider to 100% transparency.

Using the left mouse button you will now "paint" (erase) the part of the eyelet/button you want to be under the ribbon. In the example below I’ve done the first three eyelets and started on the fourth one.

**TIP - You can "undo last stroke" if you make a mistake so painting in short strokes is best. Do this by releasing the mouse button often. If you paint continuously without releasing the mouse button and you make a mistake you will have to start all over again.