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Tips on how to Create Detailed Graphic Patterns in Photoshop

Video Tutorial: Creating Detailed Graphic Patterns in Photoshop

Patterns come in all kinds of styles, from simple repeating shapes to complex graphic arrays. In today’s Photoshop tutorial, I’m going to share some tips for creating detailed pattern effects made with color illustrations. We’ll first use an indispensable technique of filling the canvas with randomly placed graphics, then show you some manual methods for creating seamlessly repeated pattern designs.

This technique of creating detailed graphic patterns was first discussed in an earlier video tutorial on my Spoon Graphics YouTube channel. The process quickly fills an entire canvas with randomly placed graphics from any source image, e.g. B. a photo or an illustration. The result does not repeat itself seamlessly, but it can be designed to fill any area without repetition in the design, which has its advantages over a traditional pattern tile.

My friends at Heritage Type Co have a huge library of freely downloadable illustration graphics that are ideal for creating rustic patterns. I am using some files from the Fresh Fruits collection.

These illustrations are quite large, which is great if you’re creating a real pattern for fabric printing but scaling them down beforehand for digital use. They’re already cut out too, which is a bonus!

Go to Edit> Define Pattern to save the image as a swatch in Photoshop’s Pattern Library. Repeat the process for all of the graphics that you want to use to create your pattern design.

Create a new document for the main pattern design. Remember, this pattern effect will not be seamlessly tiled or repeated. You will therefore need to create a document at the final size / resolution for your end use.

Using the ALT + Backspace shortcut, fill the background layer with black and create a new layer. Go to Edit> Fill.

Select Pattern for the Content option, then choose the first of your custom pattern graphics. Enable the Script option and change the setting to Random fill.

The Random Fill screen provides several options for customizing the effect. Most importantly, the density value determines how many instances of the shape will be placed. Set 0.75 and 1 for the scale values ​​so that there is a slight difference in size between the graphics. Activate “Rotate Pattern” so that they are not all positioned evenly. Optionally, enter 0.2 for the Brightness Control to add a slight difference in brightness between the graphics.

Create another new layer and go to Edit> Fill again to create another pattern with the next graphic. Use the same settings for the random fill.

Switch between the individual graphics for each new pattern fill to cover the canvas with a multitude of randomly placed images on separate layers.

As the canvas starts to fill up, you can decrease the density of the final layers to fill in gaps in the pattern without the layer being too overwhelming.

The result is a complex pattern with rich detail as hundreds of illustration graphics are overlaid in random orientations.

A simple drop shadow layer style effect can really enhance the pattern by defining each layer. If the scale is large, the maximum size setting is required.

Right click and choose Copy Layer Style. Then Shift-click each of the pattern layers and paste layer style to apply the same drop shadow effect.

The pattern can be further improved by adding an adjustment layer for brightness / contrast after each pattern layer.

Click the icon to pin the adjustment layer to the layer below, then randomly set a brightness value for more subtle shading effects between graphic layers.

The end result is a complex pattern effect with detailed illustration graphics. There are tons of creative pattern styles that can be created using this process, depending on the images used.

If you want your pattern design to repeat seamlessly, a similar technique can be used, but with a few additional steps along the way. Here I am using a selection of tropical watercolor graphics by Octopus Artis.

Create a new document containing your pattern design. Here I am using the same 5000x5000px document, but the size can be anything to reflect the scale you need for your pattern.

Drag guides from the rulers (View> Rulers) to identify the edges of the original canvas.

Go to Image> Canvas Size and enlarge the canvas area to create more space to work. Doubling the original document size is sufficient.

These guides will help visualize the original canvas boundaries. Fill in the background and create a new layer to overlay pattern graphics.

This time we need to make sure the density is low enough to avoid having too many graphics overlapping each other. Experiment with numbers under 1 pixel, e.g. B. 0.5 pixels. The preview is not the end result, so press OK and Undo if necessary.

To ensure that the pattern repeats, we need to copy all of the graphic elements that intersect with a guide on the opposite side. Use the Lasso Tool to draw a selection around all of the graphics on one edge.

Go to Edit> Copy, followed by Edit> Paste Special> Paste In Place to make a duplicate of these graphics on a new layer.

Press CMD + T (or Ctrl + T on Windows) to transform. Then click the triangle icon on the top toolbar and enter the value of your document size in the appropriate X or Y field to move the duplicated graphics to the opposite page.

Turn off the visibility of the layer and turn the main pattern layer back on. Then draw a selection around any graphics that overlap the other edge.

Move these elements in the same way with the link CMD + T, but with a negative value to move them in the other direction.

Merge all layers back into a single pattern layer using the Layer> Merge Layers shortcut or CMD + E.

Repeat the process for the other axis to render all elements from left to right and right to left.

Use the same value for the document size, but in the X field. Then turn off the layer and duplicate all the graphics from that side to the other side.

Compare the items on the left / right and top / bottom edges to make sure they are the same along the guides before merging the layers. As highlighted in this screenshot, I was impressed by the stacking order of the layers!

Turn off the visibility of the first pattern layer and repeat the steps to generate a repeating pattern with the next graphic.

Apply the random fill first, then make copies of all the elements that are along the guidelines so that they appear on the opposite side as well.

This process is much more time consuming as each layer has to be processed and worked with sparse density values, but the pattern soon fills the canvas. Apply the shading effects to enhance the design.

Go to Image> Canvas Size and crop the document back to its original size.

To check that the pattern repeats seamlessly, go to View> Pattern Preview. Photoshop will tile the pattern so you can see the edges repeat seamlessly.

This technique creates patterns that are just as detailed as the original random fill method, but they also repeat seamlessly to infinite sizes.

For complete control over the pattern design, the Pattern Preview setting is a useful tool for creating patterns manually without the use of a random fill. Start with copies of all elements on individual layers.

If you drag a graphic to the edge of the canvas with Sample Preview turned on, Photoshop automatically repeats it on the opposite side.

Duplicate, rotate, and reposition copies of any graphic to slowly create your pattern design by hand. The process takes longer without the random filler script being supported. However, you are in control of where each piece is placed. There is also no need to process the repeating elements at each edge as Photoshop’s Pattern Preview mode does all the work for us!

When your pattern is ready, go to Edit> Define Pattern to save the design to Photoshop’s Pattern Library, where you can access it with a variety of tools.

When used with a Pattern Overlay layer style or a Pattern Fill setting layer, the entire canvas can be filled with your seamless pattern design.