Lesson Repeating Patterns In Photoshop
In this tutorial, we'll learn the basics of making and using simple repeating patterns in Photoshop. We're just going to cover the essential steps here to get things started, but once you understand how repeating patterns work and how easy they are to create, you'll quickly discover on your own that there's virtually no limit to their creative potential in your designs, whether you're building a simple background for a scrapbook or web page or using them as part of a more complex effect.
This tutorial will cover the three main parts to working with repeating patterns. First, we'll design a single tile which will eventually become our repeating pattern. Next, we'll learn how to save the tile as an actual pattern in Photoshop. Finally, with our new pattern created, we'll learn how to select the pattern and make it repeat across an entire layer! In the next set of tutorials, we'll take repeating patterns further by adding colors and gradients, using blend modes to blend multiple patterns together, creating patterns from custom shapes, and more!
I'll be using Photoshop CS5 here, but the steps apply to any recent version of Photoshop.
Step 1: Create A New Document
Let's begin by creating a single tile for the pattern. For that, we need a new blank document, so go up to the File menu in the Menu Bar along the top of the screen and choose New:
Go to File > New.
This opens the New Document dialog box. Enter 100 pixels for both the Width and Height. The document's size will determine the size of the tile, which will affect how often the pattern repeats in the document (since a smaller tile will need more repetitions to fill the same amount of space than a larger tile would). In this case we'll be creating a 100 px x 100 px tile. You'll want to experiment with different sizes when creating your own patterns later. I'll leave my Resolution value set to 72 pixels/inch. Set the Background Contents to Transparent so our new document will have a transparent background:
Enter the width and height of your document and make sure Background Contents is set to Transparent.
Click OK when you're done to close out of the dialog box. The new document appears on your screen. The checkerboard pattern filling the document is Photoshop's way of telling us that the background is transparent. Since the document is rather small at only 100 px x 100 px, I'll zoom in on it by holding down my Ctrl (Win) / Command (
The new blank document, zoomed in to 500%.
Step 2: Add Guides Through The Center Of The Document
We need to know the exact center of our document, and we can find it using Photoshop's guides. Go up to the View menu at the top of the screen and choose New Guide:
Go to View > New Guide.
This opens the New Guide dialog box. Select Horizontal for the Orientation, then enter 50% for the Position. Click OK to close out of the dialog box, and you'll see a horizontal guide appear through the center of the document:
Select Horizontal and enter 50% for the Position.
Go back up to the View menu and once again choose New Guide. This time in the New Guide dialog box, select Vertical for the Orientation and again enter 50% for the Position:
Select Vertical and enter 50% for the Position.
Click OK to close out of the dialog box, and you should now have a vertical and horizontal guide running through the center of the document. The point where they meet is the exact center. The default guide color is cyan so they may be a bit difficult to see in the screenshot:
A vertical and horizontal guide runs through the center of the document.
Changing The Guide Color (Optional)
If you're having trouble seeing the guides because of their light color, you can change their color in Photoshop's Preferences. On a PC, go up to the Edit menu, choose Preferences, then choose Guides, Grid & Slices. On a Mac, go up to the Photoshop menu, choose Preferences, then choose Guides, Grid & Slices:
Select the Guides, Grid and Slices Preferences.
This opens Photoshop's Preferences dialog box set to the Guides, Grid & Slices options. The very first option at the top of the list is Guide Color. As I mentioned, it's set to Cyan by default. Click on the word Cyan and choose a different color from the list. You'll see a preview of the color in the document window. I'll change mine to Light Red:
Selecting Light Red as the new color for the guides.
Click OK when you're done to close out of the Preferences dialog box. The guides in the document window now appear in the new color (note that Photoshop will continue to display guides in this new color until you go back to the Preferences and change the color back to Cyan or choose a different color):
The guides now appear in the new color, making them easier to see.
Step 3: Draw A Shape In The Center Of The Document
You can create very complex patterns in Photoshop, or they can be as simple as, say, a repeating dot or circle. Let's draw a circle in the center of the document. First, select the Elliptical Marquee Tool from the Tools panel. By default, it's hiding behind the Rectangular Marquee Tool, so click on the Rectangular Marquee Tool and hold your mouse button down for a second or two until a fly-out menu appears, then select the Elliptical Marquee Tool from the list:
Click and hold on the Rectangular Marquee Tool, then select the Elliptical Marquee Tool.
With the Elliptical Marquee Tool selected, move the crosshair directly over the intersection point of the guides in the center of the document. Hold down Shift+Alt (Win) / Shift+Option (Mac), click in the center of the document, then with your mouse button still held down, drag out a circular selection. Holding the Shift key as you drag will force the shape of the selection into a perfect circle, while the Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) key tells Photoshop to draw the selection outline from the center. When you're done, your selection outline should look similar to this (don't worry about the exact size as long as it's close):
Hold down Shift+Alt (Win) / Shift+Option (Mac) and drag out a circular selection outline from the center.
Step 4: Fill The Selection With Black
Go up to the Edit menu at the top of the screen and choose Fill:
Go to Edit > Fill.
This opens the Fill dialog box, where we can choose a color to fill the selection with. Set the Use option at the top of the dialog box to Black:
Set the Use option to Black.
Click OK to close out of the dialog box. Photoshop fills the circular selection with black. Press Ctrl+D (Win) / Command+D (Mac) to quickly remove the selection outline from around the shape (you could also go up to the Select menu at the top of the screen and choose Deselect, but the keyboard shortcut is faster). Keep in mind that my document is still zoomed in to 500%, which is why the edges of the circle appear blocky: