How to Make Fancy Patterns in Illustrator

The key to producing a custom pattern that looks fancy is creating a lot of detailed shapes or lines that appear ordered on both large and small viewing scales. Completing this task in Illustrator with only manual tools like Paintbrush or Pencil is quite challenging. However, Illustrator's automated tools greatly simplify the task. Create a fancy pattern in Illustrator by changing the shape of the Paintbrush tool with the Brush control, then applying intricate styles and effects using the Styles control and the Effects menu.

Instructions

1. Launch Illustrator and start a new image. Click the "Paintbrush Tool" icon, then click the "Brushes" control. Click the "Brush Libraries Menu" icon, then select a brush library. This action displays a gallery of brush shapes that form the basis of a fancy pattern.

2. Click a brush swatch like "Charcoal," "Banner" or another ornate swatch. Click and drag on the canvas to draw any shape you'd like to use for a pattern.

3. Click the "Graphic Styles" button to display a gallery of graphic styles you can apply to your shape. Click the icon in the lower left corner of the gallery to display a categorized list of other galleries. Click the "3-D Effects" item to load a gallery of intricate and ornate styles.

4. Click any of the box, cylinder or donut-shaped 3-D style icons to apply the ornate style to your shape.

5. Click the "Effects" menu, and then click the "Effect Gallery" item to display a window that lets you sample and apply different effects to your shapes.

6. Click the "Texture" heading in the Effect window, then click any of the intricate effects from the gallery, such as "Craquelure," "Stained Glass" or "Patchwork." Illustrator displays a preview of the effect on your shape on the left.

7. Drag the controls to change the effect's appearance. These controls vary by effect, but include "Cell Size" for the "Stained Glass" effect and "Relief" for the "Patchwork" effect.

8. Click "OK" to commit the effect to your shape and close the "Effect" window.

9. Drag the mouse around your modified shape to select it, then click the Edit menu's "Define Pattern" command to display a dialog box allowing you to name your custom pattern. Type in any name you like, then click "OK" to close the dialog box.

10. Click the "Rectangle Tool" icon in the toolbar, then drag inside the window to draw a rectangle. Click the leftmost drop-down menu above the canvas to display a gallery of swatches with which you can fill the rectangle. Click the swatch labeled with the name you entered to fill the rectangle with your fancy pattern.

References

• Illustrator CS5 Bible; Ted Alspach