How to make Patterns in Illustrator

You have made an interesting illustration, but you feel that something is missing. Sometimes, you need the right fill or the background, or the stroke fill. You start hopping through websites to find the right pattern and fill. But you end up with something unsatisfactory. Sometimes the color is not right and sometimes the resolution. Finally, you end up compromising the quality of your illustration. But, what if you could make them on your own? And that too, in under 5 minutes. So here it is, all you need to know about how to make patterns in Illustrator.

Start by making a design. Select the design by dragging over it. The Swatches panel is at the right side of the screen. If not, go to the Windows menu and select the Swatches option. When the Swatches panel opens, you can drag the design to the swatches panel. Double-click on the design that you have created. Pattern Options window will pop up. You can also select the design and go to the Object menu on top. In the Object menu, search for Pattern sub-menu and select make. The Pattern Options window will pop up and the design will be added to the Swatches.

A custom pattern in Illustrator

Let us understand how to use the Pattern Options window. The first option is the Tile Type. You can use the Tile Type option to choose between different layout options.

Tile Type

Grid layout: You can use it to create symmetric rectangular or symmetric square patterns.

Brick by row and Brick by Column layouts: You can use these options to create tiles in the Brick layout. With these options, you can also select the offset between different layers in the Brick Offset option.

Hex by Column and Hex by Row layouts: You may use them to create a honey-comb like tile pattern.

Tile alignment options

The next section in Pattern Options is about the tile alignments. It defines the Width and Height of the pattern. You can select, make or prevent overlapping of patterns. The preview of the pattern is visible on the top right side of the Pattern Options window. You can define width and height with or without the Move Tile with Art settings. If you select the Size Tile to Art option, the width and height setting is disabled. However, you can adjust the horizontal and vertical spacing. Use the H-Spacing and V-Spacing options for this purpose. You might have observed an icon beside the alignment settings. Use this icon to constraint your pattern to the defined dimensions.

Next are the overlap options. You can use these options to define which part of the adjacent tile remains in the front. You can choose to select the right or left side of the tile on the front. A similar selection can be made for the top and bottom settings.

Visual options

You can use this section of the Pattern Options panel to visualize the pattern. The Copies setting shows how the pattern will look with different tile settings. You can Activate the Dim Copies to check the box to change the opacity of the tiles for better visualization. Use the Show Swatch Bounds to understand which part of the design is tiled. You can also see the tile edges using the Show Tile Edge checkbox. The previews will be visible directly on the artboard.

Saving and Editing patterns

If you are satisfied with the appearance of the pattern, now it’s time to save it. When the Pattern Options window is open, you can see three options on the top: Save a Copy, Done, and Cancel. If you select the Save a Copy option, you need to assign a name to the pattern and hit save. The pattern will be saved in the swatch. If you press the Done option, the changes will be made to the current pattern. The name of the pattern appears on top in the Pattern Options window. Hit cancel to undo the changes you have made in the Pattern Options window.

You can edit the pattern by simply double-clicking on the icon in the Swatches panel. You can also select the pattern, and select Edit Pattern from the Pattern sub menu in the Object menu. Using the edit option, You can create multiple patterns from just one design. Furthermore, you can also edit the size, fills, and stroke of the design to form new patterns.

How to use the custom patterns?

You can access all your patterns from the Swatches panel. Use pattern swatches like standard fills and stroke.

Conclusion

Follow the above easy steps to make patterns in Illustrator in under 5 minutes. Make your illustrations interesting and lively with custom patterns.

For more Illustrator tips, tricks, and scripts, check out our Blog.

Check out How to remove Drop Shadow in Illustrator