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Elan Creative Co.

whimsical graphic design

How to make a seamless pattern in Photoshop

October 22, 2014

Create a seamless pattern in Photoshop

Follow this tutorial to learn a quick and easy way to turn your graphics into a seamless pattern in Photoshop.

I’m going to use hand-drawn illustrations from my Magical Unicorns collection, but you can use clip-art, drawings, watercolor illustrations, or even Photoshop brushes.

Photoshop vs. Illustrator

I usually use Illustrator to create seamless patterns. Photoshop is just as easy to use, but the vector patterns you can make in Illustrator are easy to scale and recolor. You can also edit them after you save the pattern. This is something you can’t do in Photoshop and that’s why I recommend using Illustrator.

I do use Photoshop to create seamless texture and I think it works great for watercolor and hand-drawn graphics.

Watch how I make a seamless pattern in Photoshop on YouTube

I’ve recently started a new YouTube channel where I will show you how to use Photoshop and Illustrator to create seamless patterns and graphics for your blog, business, or social media. Please subscribe to Elan Creative Co’s channel if you want to see more video tutorials.

Here’s how to make a seamless pattern in Photoshop:

How to make a seamless pattern in Photoshop

First, open Photoshop and create a new document. My canvas is 400x400px at 72 pixels/inch. If you want to print the image, use a higher resolution and the CMYK color mode.

Use the fill tool to recolor your background and then lock the layer by clicking on the padlock icon in the Layers panel.

Drag the illustrations you want to use in the center of the canvas.

Create a seamless pattern in PhotoshopUse the bounding box to resize your image. You can also rotate it. Press Enter to save the changes.

Add the other graphics and try to fill the canvas. Make sure the images are inside the workspace.

Create a seamless pattern in Photoshop

When you are happy with the design, go to the Layers panel, select all the layers, right-click on them and choose Merge from the menu. You should now have a background layer and a single layer with all the graphics.

We are going to use the Offset filter to make the repeating pattern.

Select the top layer and go to Filter > Other > Offset.

Make sure Wrap Around is selected, and enter half the width of your canvas for the horizontal value, and half the height of your canvas for the vertical value.

Create a seamless pattern in Photoshop

You can use other graphics to fill the empty areas that are now in the middle.

Create a seamless pattern in Photoshop

When the pattern is done, go to the Layers panel and merge all the layers.

To save the pattern, go to Edit > Define Pattern and give your pattern a new name.

Create a seamless pattern in Photoshop

To test your pattern, open a new document and create a canvas that’s larger than your pattern tile.

Go to Edit > Fill, set the Contents to Pattern and select the new pattern from the Custom Pattern list. Press OK to use it.

Create a seamless pattern in Photoshop

You can also use the seamless patterns with the Fill Tool or with the Shape Tools.

Create a seamless pattern in Photoshop

Do you create and use seamless patterns in Photoshop?

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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. Dawn says

    November 2, 2015 at 7:09 am

    Hi Cristina,

    Thanks alot for this tutorial. So useful,now I know how to create repeating pattern easily 🙂

    • Cristina says

      November 2, 2015 at 8:16 am

      You’re welcome, Dawn!

  2. Eliza yawney says

    August 7, 2017 at 1:59 am

    This is soooo helpful!!! Thank you so much. I am planning to make fabric using my watercor florals but I haven’t been able to figure out how to make a pattern. This makes it soo simple. You can find me on Instagram @theblumeshoppe

    • Cristina Silvia says

      August 7, 2017 at 7:55 pm

      Glad you like it, Eliza! Your watercolor florals are lovely. I’m sure they will look great on fabrics.

  3. Ren S says

    August 21, 2018 at 8:55 pm

    Hi Cristina,

    This is so clear and easy to follow – thank you so much for such a wonderful tutorial! Can’t wait to give it a go now.

    I love your unicorn designs too, by the way. Deliciously cute!

    Thank you again – Ren, UK

  4. Ravi says

    August 30, 2018 at 1:05 pm

    Hey Cristina,
    Thanks for sharing this seamless pattern. I watched you on YouTube also.

  5. Claudia Gilles says

    February 23, 2019 at 3:36 am

    Hi Cristina,
    Great tutorial, I love it because I am familiar with Photoshop and not Illustrator.
    How would you save the seamless pattern to print on fabric from Photoshop? Thank you !

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