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Elan Creative Co.

whimsical graphic design

How to make a Chevron pattern in Photoshop

September 9, 2012

How to make a chevron pattern in Photoshop

Updated in July 2017 for Adobe Photoshop CC

The chevron pattern is one of the most popular patterns out there. You can use it on everything from wall decor to fabrics or stationery, and it looks great on blog graphics or social media images. In this quick and easy tutorial, I will show you how to make a chevron pattern in Photoshop.

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I’m very new at this and very nervous, so please excuse my mistakes ?

Here’s how to create a chevron pattern in Photoshop. Scroll down for the written tutorial.

How to make a chevron pattern in Photoshop

Open Photoshop and create a new document. We are going to start with a small square tile. I’m using a canvas that’s 100 x 100px at 72ppi. Set the background contents to transparent.

How to make a chevron pattern in Photoshop

We are going to use the Custom Shape Tools to create the chevron. Select the Custom Shape Tool, and from the toolbar, select Arrows.

How to make a chevron pattern in Photoshop

Make sure that the Fill color is selected and the Stroke is removed. Select the chevron arrow from the Arrows menu.

How to make a chevron pattern in Photoshop

Click on the canvas and enter the width and height of your canvas. For a repeating pattern, the chevron should have the same size as the canvas.

How to make a chevron pattern in Photoshop

Using the Move Tool (V), make sure that the chevron is centered and zoom in to see if there are any white spaces at the top or bottom of the arrow.

How to make a chevron pattern in Photoshop

Let’s rotate the arrow. Go to Edit > Transform > Rotate 90° Clockwise.

How to make a chevron pattern in Photoshop

To save the pattern, go to Edit > Define Pattern.

How to make a chevron pattern in Photoshop

Give your pattern a new name and save it.

How to make a chevron pattern in Photoshop

How to make a chevron background

Now I want to show you how to use the pattern, so we are going to create a chevron background.

Open a new document. I’m going to use a larger canvas that’s 6x6in at 300ppi. If you want to use it for your web graphics, use a lower resolution, like 72ppi. Set the Background Contents to Transparent.

Select the Fill tool, select Pattern from the toolbar that’s at the top of your canvas, and select your new chevron pattern from the drop-down menu.

How to make a chevron pattern in Photoshop

Just click on your canvas to fill it with the chevron pattern.

How to make a chevron pattern in Photoshop

How to recolor the chevron pattern

We have a black chevron pattern with a transparent background. Let’s add a solid color background. I’m going to use the Fill tool again to add a background.

First, create a new layer by pressing the Create a New Layer icon in the Layers panel (Ctrl+Shift+N). With the new layer selected, go to the Fill tool, choose the Foreground color you want to use and click on the canvas.

How to make a chevron pattern in Photoshop

Now go to the Layers panel and drag the solid color layer under your chevron layer.

How to make a chevron pattern in Photoshop

To recolor the chevron, I’m going to use an Adjustment layer and a clipping mask. With the chevron layer selected, click on the Create new fill or adjustment layer button that’s at the bottom of the Layers panel and choose Solid Color.

How to make a chevron pattern in Photoshop

Use the color picker to select a new color or choose a color from the Swatches panel.

How to make a chevron pattern in Photoshop

This will fill the whole layer with a solid color. Use a clipping mask to recolor the chevron pattern. Just select the solid color layer and go to Layer > Create Clipping Mask (Alt+Ctrl+G).

How to make a chevron pattern in Photoshop

Here’s the new pattern:

How to make a chevron pattern in Photoshop

If you want to choose another color for the polka dots, just double-click on the solid color layer in the Layers panel and choose another color.

Follow this quick and easy tutorial to learn how to make a chevron pattern in Photoshop (video)Click To Tweet

Tips: Instead of a solid color layer, you can use a gradient or a texture. Just add the gradient or texture layer above the chevron layer and use a clipping mask.

If you want multiple colors like in the featured image, just use the Fill tool and click on each row to recolor it.

Save the image when you are done:

  • Save as PSD so you can make other backgrounds
  • Save as JPEG or PNG to use on your website or other projects
  • Tip: Use Save for Web, the files have a smaller size and are better for your website

Want to learn how to make more patterns? Visit my Photoshop tutorials or follow my blog for more surface pattern design tutorials.

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About Cristina Silvia

Hey there! I’m Cristina, and I’m a self-taught graphic designer and illustrator. With an everlasting love of all creative endeavors, I found joy in sharing with others what I’ve learned over the years and helping bloggers and entrepreneurs bring their dreams to life through beautiful designs.

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Comments

  1. Ashley Elizabeth says

    November 5, 2012 at 5:31 am

    cant do this in the newest version i dont have that shape 🙁

    • Cristina says

      November 5, 2012 at 2:58 pm

      I didn’t know that 🙁 There is a free chevron pack you can download: http://elanblogstudio.com/2012/09/free-chevron-background.html

    • Ashley Elizabeth says

      November 5, 2012 at 3:05 pm

      Awesome thanks hun!!

  2. Missy Swartworth says

    December 13, 2012 at 1:57 am

    It is on the newer versions…just have to look under “arrows” 🙂

    • Cristina says

      December 14, 2012 at 11:50 pm

      Thanks Missy!

  3. Patricia Baret says

    March 23, 2013 at 4:34 pm

    Great tutorial!!! Thanks so much!

  4. Shelly Long says

    March 25, 2016 at 4:37 pm

    Your blog is fantastic! I love all the tutorials- I can’t get enough 🙂

    • Cristina says

      March 25, 2016 at 5:19 pm

      Thanks, Shelly! It makes me happy to hear that.

  5. Dana J. says

    June 23, 2018 at 10:24 pm

    Thank you so much!! This made is so simple!!

    • Cristina Silvia says

      June 23, 2018 at 10:54 pm

      You’re welcome, Dana!

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