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Photoshop Tutorial 0004 - Pattern Making

This exercise is a good way to learn some basic tools in Photoshop as well as principles in design such as repetition and use of color. This may look familiar to some of you, since it is very similar to the project done in previous semesters for the computer component of Art 108. I find this is a good exercise in studying variations and flexing abilities with the various distort filters and layer blending. You can later adapt these techniques to texture making for 3D models, or simulating textures in your graphic design or architectural projects.

The first thing you need to do is to choose several images with a variation of colors that will work well together. Look for contrast and luminance, as well as interesting forms. Detail is not terribly important - look at the images in terms of color, value and luminance. You can scan elements from photos or find royalty-free images from the Web.

Once you have your images prepared, it is time to have some fun in Photoshop!

1. In Photoshop, open all of the images you are going to use in your pattern square. Double-click the marquee tool in order to open the Options palette. In the Style area, select Fixed Size. Set your width and height to 300 pixels.

2. Go to the FILE menu and select NEW. Set the image dimensions to 1 inch square and the resolution to 300 dpi (dots per inch).

2. In your first image, use the Marquee tool to locate interesting areas, then select Copy from the EDIT menu. Go to the new document and choose PASTE from the EDIT menu. This will place that image on its own layer in the new document. Repeat this process for each image. When you have done this, you should have several layers of images. Save this file as squaretest1.psd (FILE>SAVE). The .psd indicates that this is a native Photoshop document.

3. Now, we need to start using the creative part of our brains. First we need to decide how to blend the images together to make our main repeating element. The order of your layers will have importance in the look of the final image. Open the Layers Palette (WINDOW> Show Layers) and select the top layer of your image. In the Layers palette, you will see a pull down menu that is labeled "Normal" click and hold down on this to see the different options. Try the various modes. I am pretty fond of Difference, Screen, and Multiply because they work really well through several layers of imagery. Try setting each layer at a different blending mode. Notice how the elements and color interact.

4. Save your variations as squarebase01.psd, squarebase02.psd, and so on. Make sure to keep the layers separate and the image saved in the Photoshop format. When you are done making layer adjustment, open all variations and choose the best one.

5. Close all documents except the best square. Now you are going to start further manipulating the layers. Select one of your layers (preferably the second from the top). Go to the FILTERS menu and experiment with the DISTORT, BLUR, and PIXELATE filters. Notice how this changes the look of the entire image. This will change the way the layered and blended images interact. Don't do anything too dramatic yet; we've got a long way to go!

6. Once you get a base square, it's time to start creating our patterns. Create a New document. Set the size to 2 x 2 inches and the resolution to 300 (which will match your square). We are going to build smaller, 4 square pattern that will be used in creating our larger pattern.

7. In the base square document, select everything (EDIT> SELECT ALL) and choose COPY MERGED from the EDIT menu. Go to the new document and choose PASTE from the EDIT menu. Use the MOVE tool to set the square in the upper left corner of the document. You should not be able to see any of the background color at the top or left of the square.

8. Duplicate this layer by dragging the square layer over the small, new layer icon at the bottom of the Layers Palette. Go to the EDIT Menu > TRANSFORM > ROTATE 90° CW. Move the new square to the upper right corner by using the MOVE tool while holding down the SHIFT key. This constrains the move to the horizontal axis.

9. Duplicate the new layer and repeat the 90°CW rotation. Move the new square to the bottom right corner. Duplicate this layer, rotate it and move it to the left bottom corner. Notice the pattern it makes? Save this image as squarepat01.psd.

10. Now we want to test more variations of the pattern. Select All and COPY MERGED again. Create a new file, leaving all settings at the defaults. Paste the new layer. You can use the various distortion filters to further refine and to break up the squareness of the pattern. Here is a good trick I learned from Kai's PowerTips clear back in the Photoshop 2 days.

11. Duplicate this file. Go to the DISTORT FILTERS list and choose ZipZag. Set the Style to "Around Center", the amount to 38% (or whatever you like), and the number of ridges to 4. Click the OKAY button.

12. Now, here comes the good part. Have you noticed the OFFSET filter yet? Go to the OTHER list under FILTERS. Choose OFFSET. In the Offset dialog, set the Horizontal and Vertical offset to 300 pixels. Set Undefined Areas to "Wrap Around". Can you see where this is headed? We can now manipulate the outer corners of the image!

13. Select the TWIRL filter from the list of distortions. Play around until you get a twirl you like. Click the OKAY button.

14. Now, open the OFFSET filter again, and click the OKAY button (it saves your last settings). The square is back to its original position and we are ready for the next step! Save your file before you proceed (squarepat02.psd)

15. Here comes the true test of whether or not your pattern will hold up under pressure. Go to the EDIT menu and Select All, then select the DEFINE PATTERN option under the same menu.

16. Create a new document setting the size to 8 x 8 inches and the resolution to 300 dpi. Go to the EDIT menu and choose FILL. In the Fill dialog, you should see an option labeled pattern. Click the OKAY button, and your new document will be filled with the pattern. You should have a fairly seamless, organic pattern.

Variation 7 - 144K	Variation 4 - 132K

The variations are really endless. By different combinations of the basic square and the square pattern with different combinations of distortion filters, you can really end up creating hundreds of textures from a little one-inch square.