Interlocking Rings
Software Used: CorelDraw 9
A visitor to the site recently asked me how to make interlocking rings such as those in the Olympic Games' logo. The request was for CorelDraw 8, but I couldn't stop there, so I decided to show you a variation of the tutorial for CorelDraw 9. The difference is, we're going to use the artistic media brushes in Draw 9 to give our rings a rounded, 3D appearance. You don't have to use this technique for circular rings... use it for text and other shapes to give the illusion of dimension.
If you haven't already, download and install the free tubular brushes on this site before beginning this tutorial.
1.) Select the ellipse tool 
and hold the Ctrl key down as you drag to create a circle.
2.) Select the Artistic Media 
tool. Then, in the property bar, choose the Brush tool option.
3.) Set the width to 0.25" and choose one of the tubular brushes from the brush stroke list. It may take a few moments for the stroke to render.
4.) Switch to the pick 
tool, select the circle and hit the + (plus) sign on the keyboard twice. This creates two duplicates of the ring right on top of each other.
5.) Hold the Ctrl key down and drag the top duplicate to the right as shown. The Ctrl key confines the movements so the two circles remain aligned.
6.) Double click the pick tool to select all objects.
7.) Choose align from the property bar, switch to the distribute tab, and check the box to distribute horizontally to the center, as shown below.
Your rings should appear something like the image below. If the spacing isn't quite right, move the rings and adjust the alignment again.
 NOTE: When selecting a ring, it's important that you select the entire group. If you look at the object manager you will see that each ring is made up of a control ellipse and an artistic media Group. When you select the ring, be sure both items are selected for each ring. If you click along the outer edge of the ring, it's easier to select the entire group. |
8.) Select the middle ring, switch to the artistic media tool, and choose a different tubular brush from the brush stroke list.
9.) Select the far right ring, switch to the artistic media tool, and choose a different tubular brush from the brush stroke list.
Now each ring should be a different color.
10.) We need to make sure our PowerClip options are set properly in order for the next step to work. Go to Tools > Options > Workspace > Edit and remove the check from the box labeled "Auto-center new PowerClip contents". 
11.) Select the ellipse tool and draw an ellipse where you want the left circle to overlap the middle one. Duplicate it and drag the second circle where the middle and right rings should overlap. Don't worry about the fill or outline for now.
12.) Select the ring on the left and hit the + key on your keyboard to duplicate it.
13.) While it's still selected, go to Effects > PowerClip > Place Inside container.
14.) Your cursor will become a thick black arrow. Point the arrow to the edge of the first circle you created above and click once. The left ring will be clipped inside the circle.
15.) Next duplicate the middle ring byt hitting the + key and repeat the PowerClip so it overlaps the right ring.
16.) Select both PowerClipped circles and right click on the X in the color palette to change the outline to none.
17.) The interlocking rings are complete! It's a good idea to select all of them and group them to prevent them from being moved independently.
Obviosly, the Olympics' logo has a few more rings, but you've learned the basic steps for how it's done.
Questions? Comments? Post to the Forum!
