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CreatebeautifulrepeatingpatternsPatternsareeverywhere.Lookaroundandyoullprobablyseeonerightnow.Itmightbeapatternonatie,ashirt,trousers,apapercup,bathroomtiles,anumbrella,onabag,asofa,wrappingpaperthelistgoesonandon.

Patternsadddecorationandbeautytomanyconsumerproducts.Ifyoulookcloselyatatruerepeatingpatternyoucanseetherepeatsquare,theareaoftheimagethatrepeatsalongverticalandhorizontalseamswhereonesectionflowsintothenext.

Inthistutorialwewillusevectorelementstocreateafour-wayrepeatingpatternswatchinAdobeIllustratorandthenmaskthepatternintoseveralmockproducts.So,letsgetstarted!

Step1Thekeytoafour-waytossaretheseamsoftherepeatsquare.Byarrangingelementswithinasquaremakingsurethetop/bottomandleft/rightseamsmatch,Illustratorcangenerateaflawlessrepeatpatternswatch.Basically,anythingthatoverlapseachside(Illbecallingthesidesseamsfromnowon)ofthesquaremustalsocrosstheoppositeseamofthesquareintheexactsamespot.Illrefertothesedoubledelementsasmates.Thefileincludedwiththistutorialshowstheseamsofarepeatsquarewithbasicshapes.Youcanusethatsquareandtheshapesasaguideforcreatingyourownrepeatwithyourart.

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Step2Thesuccessofthisprojecthaseverythingtodowithexactprecision,sotakeadeepbreath,trytorememberallthosegeometrylessonsfromschoolandsaytoyourselfthegridandguidesaremyfriends.Youllseethatthisisveryimportantinafewsteps.InIllustratorchooseFile>New.Pickasizeyoufeelcomfortablewith,Ilike44cmsoIhavespacearoundthesquare.TurnontheGridandunlocktheguides.

Step3IhaveafunkyfloralpatterninmindsoIhavecreatedtheindividualelementsandbroughtthemintoIllustrator.YoucanscanyourownartandredrawitinIllustratororuseLiveTrace.Usewhatevermethodsyouaremostcomfortablewithtocreateyourelements.Theonly

requirementisthatyourelementsarevectors.

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Step4SelecttheRectanglefromthetoolbaranddoubleclicktoseethesizedialogbox.Useawholenumbersize(sothesquarefitsinthegrid)suchas30cm.SelectView>SnaptoGridandalignthebackgroundsquaretothegrid.Dragguidestoallfoursidesandallowthemtosnaptothegrid.

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Step5Decideonacolourpalette.Takeinspirationfromtheseason,coloursaroundyou,andcoloursyoulove.Tryoutadifferentpalettefromwhatyouwouldnormallyuse.Manysurface-designclientshaverestrictionsonthemaximumnumberofcoloursthatcanbeused,anddependingonwhatsurfacethepatternwillbeprintedon,theymightalreadyhaveabackgroundcolourinmind.Makesuretotakeallofthisintoaccount,butdonteverfeellimitedbyrestrictions.Thechallengeofsurfacedesign(andanycreativeworkforthatmatter)istoworkwithinrestrictionsincreativewaysandmaketheprojectlookgreatintheend.However,sincethisisforfunandweregoingforlookswiththispattern,Iwillbeworkingwith12coloursplusblackandwhite.Startcolouringyourelements.

Step6Colouryourelementsandstartarrangingtheminthecentreofthesquare.Thelayoutshouldhavearhythmsoareasflowtogether.Youcanlayerelements,playwithsize,layout,colourthisiswhereyoucangetverycreativeandexperiment.

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Step7Continuearrangingelementsuntilyoureachtheedges,butdonotletyourelementscrosstheseamsyet.

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Step8Asyougetneartheseams,youwillneedtobeverycareful.RememberthegeometricexampleIshowedatthebeginning.Anelementthatcrossesthetopseamofthesquarewillalsoneedtocrossthebottomseamofthesquareintheexactsameplace.ThematesmustalignperfectlyforIllustratortocreatetherepeat.AgoodwaytodothisisSelectthehorizontalguideandtheelementandcopyboth.(Edit>Copy>Paste).Nowdragthe

elementandguidetothebottomhorizontalseamandlineuptheguides.UsetheAligndialogboxtocentretheelements.Nowtheyaremates,perfectlyaligned!

Step9Dothesamethingfortheleftandrightsideseams,makingsureeverythinglineupexactly.Selecttheleftverticalguideandtheelement,copy,paste,andalignasdescribedinStep8.Dothisforallelementsthatcrosstheverticalseams.Makesurethelayeringisexactlythesamealongtheleftandrightseams.ItcanalsobehelpfultoLock(Object>Lock>Selection)eachitemasyoualignthemsotheydonotaccidentallygetmoved.EvenifevenjustoneelementgetsnudgeditsgoingtohauntyouinStep13!

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Step10Nowthatyouhavecopiedandpastedyourelementssothematesalongtheseamsmatchyouarealmostreadytocreatetheswatch.Justkeepinmindthatonceyouvecreatedtherepeatswatchyoucanonlyalteritsscale,notthecoloursorcomposition.Nowisthetimetomakeanylayoutadjustmentsandcolourchanges.Selectallelementsandgroupthem.

Step11Makeacopyofthewhitebackground30cmsquare.Thisshouldhavenofillandnostroke.ThiswilldefinewheretheseamsofthepatternarewhenIllustratorgeneratestherepeatswatch.SendthisinvisiblesquaretothebackusingObject>Arrange>SendtoBack.UsetheAlignpalettetomakesureitisperfectlybeneathwiththewhitebackgroundsquareinthepattern.

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Step12Select>All(boththegroupedpatternandinvisiblesquare).GotoEdit>DefinePattern.Giveyourswatchanameinthedialogbox.

Step13ItwillnowappearontheSwatchespalette,justlikeacolourswatch.Moveyourgroupedpatternasideanddrawalargerectanglewiththeshapetoolandfillitwithyourswatch.

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Step14

Checkalongtheedgeoftherepeattomakesureeverythingisalignedperfectly.Amisalignedelementwilllookpartiallyortotallychoppedinhalfbecauseitwillmisalignedfromitsmate.Ifthishappensjustungroupyourelements,adjusttheirpositions,andtryagain.