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Repeating Patterns In Photoshop – The BasicsIn 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.Download our tutorials as printable PDFs! Learning Photoshop has never been easier!

Step 1: Create A New DocumentLet's begin by creating a single tile for the pattern. For that, we need a new blank document, so go up to the Filemenu 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 (Mac) key and pressing the plus sign ( + ) a few times. Here, the document is zoomed in to 500%:

The new blank document, zoomed in to 500%.

Step 2: Add Guides Through The Center Of The DocumentWe need to know the exact center of our document, and we can find it using Photoshop's guides. Go up to theView 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, selectVertical 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 DocumentYou 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 BlackGo 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 theSelect 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:

The selection has been filled with black.

Step 5: Duplicate The LayerWith just this one circle added in the center of the tile, we could save the tile as a pattern, but let's make it look a bit more interesting before we do that. First, make a copy of the layer by going up to the Layer menu at the top of the screen, choosing New, then choosing Layer via Copy. Or, if you prefer keyboard shortcuts, press Ctrl+J (Win) /Command+J (Mac):

Go to Layer > New > Layer via Copy.

Nothing will happen yet in the document window, but a copy of the layer, which Photoshop names "Layer 1 copy", appears above the original in the Layers panel:

The Layers panel showing a copy of Layer 1 above the original.

Step 6: Apply The Offset FilterWhen designing tiles to use as repeating patterns, there's one filter you'll use almost every time, and that's Offset, which you can get to by going up to the Filter menu at the top of the screen, choosing Other, then choosingOffset:

Go to Filter > Other > Offset.

This opens the Offset filter dialog box. The Offset filter moves, or offsets, the contents of a layer by a specified number of pixels either horizontally, vertically, or both. When creating simple repeating patterns like the one we're designing here, you'll want to enter half the width of your document into the Horizontal input box and half the height of your document into the Vertical input box. In our case, we're working with a 100 px x 100 px document, so set the Horizontal option to 50 pixels and the Vertical option also to 50 pixels. At the bottom of the dialog box, in theUndefined Areas section, make sure Wrap Around is selected:

Set the Horizontal and Vertical options to half the dimensions of the document and make sure Wrap

Around is checked.

Click OK to close out of the dialog box. In the document window, we see that the Offset filter has taken the copy of the circle we made in the previous step and split it into four equal parts, placing them in the corners of the document. The circle remaining in the center is the original circle we drew on Layer 1:

The image after running the Offset filter.

Step 7: Define The Tile As A PatternWith the tile designed, let's save it as an actual pattern, a process Photoshop refers to as "defining a pattern". Go up to the Edit menu at the top of the screen and choose Define Pattern:

Go to Edit > Define Pattern.

Photoshop will pop open a dialog box asking you to name the new pattern. It's a good idea to include the dimensions of the tile in the name of the pattern in case you design several similar tiles at different sizes. In this case, name the tile "Circles 100x100". Click OK when you're done to close out of the dialog box. The tile is now saved as a pattern!

Name the pattern "Circles 100x100".

Step 8: Create A New DocumentWe've designed our tile and defined it as a pattern, which means we can now use it to fill an entire layer! Let's create a new document to work in. Just as we did back in Step 1, go up to the File menu and choose New. When the New Document dialog box appears, enter 1000 pixels for both the Width and Height. Leave the Resolutionset to 72 pixels/inch, and this time, set the Background Contents to White so the background of the new document is filled with solid white. Click OK when you're done to close out of the dialog box. The new document will appear on your screen:

Create a new 1000 px x 1000 px document with a white background.

Step 9: Add A New LayerWe could simply fill the document's Background layer with our pattern, but that would seriously limit what we can do with it. As we'll see in the next tutorial when we look at adding colors and gradients to patterns, a much better way to work is to place the repeating pattern on its own layer. Click on the New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel:

Click on the New Layer icon.

A new blank layer named "Layer 1" appears above the Background layer:

The new layer appears.

Step 10: Fill The New Layer With The PatternWith our new layer added, let's fill it with our pattern! Go up to the Edit menu and choose Fill:

Go to Edit > Fill.

Normally, Photoshop's Fill command is used to fill a layer or selection with a solid color, just as we did back in Step 4 when we used it to fill the circular selection with black. But we can also use the Fill command to fill something with a pattern, and we do that by first setting the Use option at the top of the dialog box to Pattern:

Change the Use option to Pattern.

With Pattern selected, a second option, Custom Pattern, appears directly below it, which is where we choose the pattern we want to use. Click on the pattern preview thumbnail:

Click directly on the Custom Pattern thumbnail.

This opens the Pattern Picker, which displays small thumbnails of all the patterns we currently have to choose from. The circle pattern we just created will be the last thumbnail in the list. If you have Tool Tips enabled in Photoshop's Preferences (they're enabled by default), the name of the pattern will appear when your hover your cursor over the thumbnail. Double-click on it to select it and exit out of the Pattern Picker:

Select the "Circles 100x100" pattern in the Pattern Picker.

Once you've selected the pattern, all that's left to do is click OK to close out of the Fill dialog box. Photoshop fills the blank layer in the document with the circle pattern, repeating the tile as many times as needed:

Layer 1 is now filled with the repeating circle pattern.

And that's really all there is to it! Obviously our black and white circle pattern won't win us many awards, but the important things to take away from this first tutorial are the steps we used to create it, designing a single tile, defining the tile as a pattern, then using Photoshop's Fill command to fill an entire layer with the pattern. Up next, we'll start taking things further by learning how to add colors and gradients to our patterns!

Repeating Patterns In Photoshop – Adding Colors And Gradients

http://www.photoshopessentials.com/basics/repeating-patterns-colors-gradients/

In the previous tutorial, we learned the basics of creating and using simple repeating patterns in Photoshop. We designed a single tile using the Elliptical Marquee Tool and the Offset filter. We then saved the tile as a pattern. Finally, we selected the pattern and used it to fill a layer, with the pattern seamlessly repeating as many times as needed to cover the entire area. This tutorial continues from where we left off, so you may want to complete the previous section where we created and added our "Circles" pattern if you haven't done so already.The main problem with the repeating pattern we've created so far is that it's not very interesting, and a big reason is that it's nothing more than a black pattern in front of a white background. In this tutorial, we'll learn how to spice things up a bit by adding colors and gradients! As before, I'll be using Photoshop CS5 here, but any recent version of Photoshop will work.Download our tutorials as printable PDFs! Learning Photoshop has never been easier!

Here's our design as it appears so far:

Black circles against a white background. Not terribly interesting.

Adding Solid ColorsLet's start by replacing the white background with a color. We could use Photoshop's Fill command to fill the Background layer with a color, but let's give ourselves more flexibility by using what's called a fill layer (we'll see what I mean by it being more flexible a bit later). First, click on the Background layer in the Layers panel to select it:

Click on the Background layer to make it active.

With the Background layer selected, click on the New Fill or Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel:

Click on the New Fill or Adjustment Layer icon.

Select Solid Color from the top of the list of fill and adjustment layers that appears:

Choose Solid Color from the top of the list.

As soon as you choose Solid Color from the list, Photoshop will pop open the Color Picker so we can choose the color we want to use. This is the color that will become the new background color for the design. I'm going to choose a medium blue. Of course, you can choose any color you like, but if you want to use the same colors I'm using, look for the R, G and B options (which stand for Red, Green and Blue) near the bottom center of the Color Picker and enter 98 for the R value, 175 for G, and 200 for B:

Choose a color from the color picker to use as the background color for the design.

Click OK when you're done to close out of the Color Picker, and if we look at the design in the document window, we see that we've easily replaced the white background with the new color:

The white background has been replaced with blue.

If we look in the Layers panel, we can see what's happened. Photoshop has added a solid color fill layer, which it named Color Fill 1, between the white-filled Background layer and the black circle pattern on Layer 1. The reason we selected the Background layer before adding the fill layer was because Photoshop adds new layers directly above the layer that's currently selected and we needed the fill layer to appear above the Background layer but below the circle pattern. The circles remain black in our document because they're on a layer above the fill layer, which means they're not being affected by it:

A solid color fill layer now blocks the white Background layer from view in the document.

We can use another fill layer to add a different color to the circle pattern itself. This time, we need Photoshop to add the fill layer above the circle pattern, so click on Layer 1 to select it:

Click on Layer 1 in the Layers panel to make it active.

Then once again click on the New Fill or Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel and chooseSolid Color from the top of the list, just as we did before. Photoshop will again open the Color Picker so we can choose the color we want to use. I'll choose a very light blue this time by entering 216 for the R value, 231 for Gand 239 for B:

Choose a light blue, or a different color if you prefer.

Click OK to close out of the Color Picker, and just like that, our repeating circles now appear in the new light blue color:

The document after adding a solid color fill layer above the circles pattern.

Wait a minute, what happened? Where did our circles go? Where's the background color we just added? Why is everything now light blue? If we look in the Layers panel, we see the problem, and the problem is that Photoshop did exactly what we asked it to do. It added a solid color fill layer named Color Fill 2, filled with the light blue color we chose in the Color Picker, above the circles pattern on Layer 1:

The new fill layer appears above the other layers.

Unfortunately, since the fill layer is sitting above all the other layers in the Layers panel, it's blocking everything else from view in the document, which is why all we see is light blue. We need a way to tell Photoshop that we want our new fill layer to affect only the circles pattern on Layer 1 below it, and we can do that using what's called a clipping mask.Make sure the Color Fill 2 layer is active in the Layers panel (active layers are highlighted in blue. Click on it to select it if for some reason it's not active). Go up to the Layer menu in the Menu Bar along the top of the screen and choose Create Clipping Mask:

Go to Layer > Create Clipping Mask.

The Color Fill 2 layer will appear indented to the right in the Layers panel, telling us that it's now "clipped" to the contents of the layer below it, meaning that it's now affecting only the circle pattern on Layer 1:

An indented layer means it's clipped to the layer directly below it.

And in the document window, we see the results we were expecting when we added the fill layer. The black circles now appear light blue against the darker blue background:

The same black and white pattern, now in color.

Changing ColorsEarlier I mentioned that fill layers give us more flexibility than if we were to fill a layer with Photoshop's Fill command, and the reason is because we can change a fill layer's color any time we want! To change the color of a fill layer, simply double-click directly on its thumbnail in the Layers panel. Let's change the color of our background. Double-click on the thumbnail for the Color Fill 1 layer, which is sitting above the Background layer:

Double-click directly on the thumbnail for the Color Fill 1 layer.

This re-opens the Color Picker, allowing us to choose a different color. I'll choose a cherry color this time by entering 204 for my R value, 32 for G and 130 for B:

Choosing a new color for the background.

Click OK to close out of the Color Picker, and the document is instantly updated with our new background color:

The background color has been easily changed.

Changing the color of the circles is just as easy. Simply double-click directly on the thumbnail for the Color Fill 2 layer:

Double-click on Color Fill 2's thumbnail.

This again re-opens the Color Picker so we can choose a new color. I'll choose a lighter pink by entering 218 for my R value, 144 for G and 161 for B:

Choosing a new color for the circle pattern.

Click OK to close out of the Color Picker, and once again, the document is instantly updated, this time with the new color for the circles:

Both the background and circle pattern colors have been changed.

Adding Gradients To Repeating PatternsWe can also add gradients to our pattern designs, and the steps are very similar. In fact, the only real difference is that instead of adding a Solid Color fill layer, we add a Gradient fill layer! I'll delete the two Solid Color fill layers I've added by clicking on each one and dragging it down onto the trash bin at the bottom of the Layers panel:

Both the background and circle pattern colors have been changed.

With the fill layers gone, the pattern reverts back to its original black and white:

Black circles in front of a white background once again.

Let's colorize the circles with a gradient. First, click on Layer 1 to select it so the Gradient fill layer we're about to add will be placed above it:

Select Layer 1.

Remember what happened when we added the Solid Color fill layer above the circle pattern? The entire document became filled with the color we chose until we fixed the problem using a clipping mask. We're going to need a clipping mask for our Gradient fill layer as well, but this time, let's take a shortcut. With Layer 1 selected, hold down your Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) key and click on the New Fill or Adjustment Layer icon:

Click on the New Fill or Adjustment Layer icon.

Choose a Gradient fill layer from the list that appears:

Choose Gradient from the list.

Holding down the Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) key while clicking the New Fill or Adjustment Layer icon tells Photoshop to pop open the New Layer dialog box where we can set some options for our Gradient fill layer before it's added. The option we're interested in is the one that says Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask. Click inside its checkbox to select it. With this option selected, the Gradient fill layer will automatically be clipped to Layer 1 below it, saving us from having to do it ourselves later:

Select the Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask option.

Click OK to close out of the New Layer dialog box. The Gradient Fill dialog box will open, which is where we can choose the gradient we want to use. Click on the gradient preview thumbnail:

Click on the gradient preview thumbnail.

This opens Photoshop's Gradient Editor. At the top of the dialog box, in the Presets section, is a set of thumbnails showing previews of the ready-made gradients we can choose from. Simply click on a thumbnail to select the gradient. Each time you click on a thumbnail, you'll see a preview of how the gradient will look in the document window. For example, if you want something really bright and colorful, you can try the Spectrum gradient by clicking on its thumbnail:

Clicking on the Spectrum gradient's thumbnail to select it.

In the document window, we can see what the Spectrum gradient will look like. Notice that only the circles themselves are being affected by the gradient thanks to that Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask option we selected a moment ago in the New Layer dialog box:

The Spectrum gradient turns the black circles into a rainbow of color.

By default, Photoshop doesn't give us many gradients to choose from, but there are other gradient sets available. To find them, click on the small arrow icon above the gradient thumbnails:

Click on the small arrow icon.

Clicking on the arrow opens a menu containing a list of additional gradient sets we can load in. Obviously we won't go through each one of them here since you can easily experiment with them on your own, but as an example, I'll select the Color Harmonies 2 set from the list:

Selecting the Color Harmonies 2 gradient set.

Once you've chosen a gradient set, Photoshop will ask if you want to replace the current gradients with the new set or if you just want to append them, which will keep the current gradients and add the new ones to them. ChooseAppend:

Add the new gradients in with the current ones by choosing Append.

The new gradients will appear after the original gradients in the Presets area of the Gradient Editor. Just as with the originals, you can select and preview any of the new gradients by clicking on their thumbnail. I'll click on theBlue, Yellow, Pink gradient to select it:

Clicking on the Blue, Yellow, Pink gradient's thumbnail.

The circle pattern is now colorized with the softer colors of the new gradient:

The new gradient gives the pattern a softer, less intense look.

Once you've found a gradient you like for your repeating pattern, click OK to close out of the Gradient Editor, then click OK to close out of the Gradient fill dialog box.

Changing The GradientJust like we saw with the Solid Color fill layer, we can go back and change our gradient at any time. If we look in the Layers panel, we see our Gradient fill layer, which Photoshop named Gradient Fill 1, sitting above the circles pattern on Layer 1. Notice that it's indented to the right, telling us that it's clipped to Layer 1 below it. To change to a different gradient, simply double-click directly on the Gradient fill layer's thumbnail:

Double-click on the Gradient fill layer's thumbnail.

This re-opens the Gradient Fill dialog box. To change the gradient, click as we did before on the gradient preview thumbnail:

Click again on the gradient preview thumbnail.

This will re-open the Gradient Editor, where you can either choose from any of the other currently available gradients or you can load in a different gradient set. I'll click on the small arrow icon to open the menu listing the other gradient sets and this time, I'll choose the Pastels set from the list:

Selecting the Pastels gradient set.

I'll add these new gradients in with the others by selecting Append when Photoshop asks me, and the new gradient thumbnails appear in the Presets area of the Gradient Editor. I'll select the Green, Purple, Blue gradient this time:

Clicking on the Green, Purple, Blue gradient's thumbnail to select it.

With my new gradient selected, I'll click OK to close out of the Gradient Editor, then I'll click OK to close out of the Gradient Fill dialog box. The circles have now changed to the new gradient's colors:

It's easy to switch gradients at any time with Gradient fill layers.

Of course, we don't have to stick with a white background. Here, I've used the steps we covered in the first part of the tutorial to add a Solid Color fill layer above the Background layer. I chose a medium purple from the Color Picker as the new color for my background (R:85, G:80, B:129):

A Gradient fill layer colorizes the pattern while a Solid Color fill layer now fills the background.

And here, we see the combined efforts of the Gradient fill layer on the circle pattern and the Solid Color fill layer on the background:

The final result.

And there we have it! That's how easy it is to colorize repeating patterns with colors and gradients! Up next, we'll look at how to create fun and interesting repeating patterns with Photoshop's custom shapes!