How to Make a Tileable Pattern in Illustrator
Filling an object in Illustrator with repetitive paths would be difficult and time-consuming without the capability to create pattern swatches. Pattern swatches allow you create a single tile that repeats seamlessly when filling a closed path. Illustrator uses a rectangle with no fill, no stroke and below the tile paths to recognize the tile boundary. Any paths that extend beyond this rectangle are masked. The trick to creating patterns that tile perfectly lies in ensuring that the overlapping paths align perfectly.
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Instructions
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Select the Rectangle tool. Hold down the “Shift” key and draw a square box the desired size of the tile.
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Draw the shapes for the pattern inside the rectangle. Place paths that will overlap the tile on the top or left sides of the square.
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Click on “View” and select “Smart Guides” to turn on Smart Guides.
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Select the Selection tool. Hold down the “Shift” key and select the square box and the paths that overlap the tile on the left.
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Hold down the “Shift” and the “Alt” key. Drag the square and the overlapping paths to the right until the left side of the square is on top of the right side of the square. This ensures that the overlapping paths on the left are within the tile on the right.
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Delete the second square box.
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Hold down the “Shift” key and select the square box and the paths that overlap the tile on the top.
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Hold down the “Shift” and the “Alt” key. Drag the square and the overlapping paths downward until the topside of the square is on top of the bottom side of the square. Your tile should now be able to repeat seamlessly.
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Delete the second square box.
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Select the square box behind the tile. Change the fill and the stroke to None.
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Select the entire tile, including the overlapping objects and the square box, by drawing an invisible box around the tile.
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Click on the “Edit” menu and select “Define Pattern.”
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Click on the “Window” menu and select “Swatches.” Your new pattern should appear in the Swatches panel.
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Select the object to which you want to apply the pattern. Click on the “Fill” icon in the Tools panel. Click on the new pattern in the Swatches panel. The pattern should tile over the selected object.
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References
- Photo Credit Burke/Triolo Productions/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images
