Whether you’re working on a fashion design project or are an ambitious graphic designer, creating seamless patterns in Photoshop can be a fun and creative endeavor. In this quick guide, we’ll show you how to make a repeating pattern in Photoshop.
4 Steps to Make a Seamless Pattern in Photoshop
I will show you a simple yet beautiful seamless repeated pattern edit. The edit I planned is a horizontal eye-soothing poster filled with green leaves because I love them, also, green is one of my favorite colors. However, find below one of the methods to make repeating patterns in Photoshop.
Step 1: Set Up Your Document
First, open Photoshop and press ‘Ctrl / Cmd + N‘ to create a new document. Ensure you set the essential ‘Preset Details’ correctly, then click ‘Create’.
Note: I need the CMYK color profile as I want to print the poster.
With your document set up, let’s move on to setting the background color.
Step 2: Set Your Background Color
Initially, a white background is selected by default. Now, let’s change it to your desired color.
Double-click on the foreground color.
In the “Color Picker” window, select a color from the bar, adjust it in the square, or paste a color code, then click OK.
Next, activate the “Paint Bucket Tool”.
Bring the cursor to the white background then left-click on the mouse and see the color change.
Now that your background is ready, we can add some graphical elements to your canvas.
Step 3: Add Graphical Elements
To add a graphical element, we’ll use Photoshop’s built-in shapes. Open the ‘Shape Panel’ by navigating to Window > Shapes.
In the “Shape Panel”, explore “Folders” to find a desired shape. Left-click and drag the shape onto the blank document. For instance, I picked a leaf shape.
The shape will appear in a new layer. Double-click the layer thumbnail to open the “Color Picker”. Select your desired color as shown for the background in “Step 2”. Hold “Alt/Option“ to resize or pull a corner. Reposition the shape with a left click, then press “Enter” to fix it in the document.
Below, you can see that I picked a leaf shape and changed the color that will nicely contrast the background.
Tip: You can also add PNG elements with “Place Embedded”.
Next, we’ll make several copies of this shape to start forming the pattern.
Step 4: Make The Repeating Patterns
Now, you need to make several copies of the layer of the graphical element(s). Press: Ctrl / Cmd + J to make a layer copy.
You can create multiple layers at once. Select all layers with “Shift” and “Right-click”, and again press “Ctrl / Cmd +J” to make layer copies. Then, press “Ctrl / Cmd + T” reposition the patterns, and hit “Enter”.
So, you can see below the desired poster I planned for.
Tip: Group the layer to keep your edit organized.
For your information:
In case, you want to make your add you look and add a hyperlink to your website, check out our blog on How to Add a Hyperlink to a JPEG in Photoshop.
Besides, if you wish to learn even more advanced edits, do read our blogs on:
Final Notes
Congratulations! You’ve successfully created a repeating pattern in Photoshop. Experiment with different shapes, colors, and arrangements to create unique designs. Share your patterns with us or explore how to apply them in various projects.
