In the past, our creative Greenville NC team has made a tutorial on how to make a pattern in Illustrator. As you already know, there are many ways to get the same task done. It just depends on what works best for you! Here is another way to learn how to make a pattern in Illustrator. Follow along as our graphic design Greenville NC agency takes you through the simple process of creating a seamless background pattern within Adobe Illustrator to level up your designs.
The first step to learning how to make a pattern in Illustrator is by opening a square Artboard within your design panel. For this tutorial, our creative Greenville NC expert is designing from a 1080x1080 Artboard, but as long as it is a square you can choose whatever dimensions best suit your design. Import your vectors, or start creating your own shapes on the Artboard.
Place your elements randomly, WITHOUT going off any edges of the Artboard. This step is the first main difference between this method of how to create a pattern in Illustrator and our last tutorial! It’s okay if it looks empty, we’ll fill these spaces in later. If you have a background color, group that as well, and ensure it’s fitted precisely to the Artboard.
Add all elements to the Artboard. Then, group all of the content together. Click the “Object” drop-down, select “Pattern,” and then “Make.” You should now see all available pattern settings.
Before going further, our creative Greenville NC team recommends double checking that the Tile Type is set to "Grid" within the settings. Make sure the width & height are the same as your Artboard size, and the “Copies” setting is at either “3x3” or “5x5” so you get a preview of the overall pattern while making edits.
Move your elements around until you’re happy with the overall pattern look. Our graphic design Greenville NC team recommends repeating shapes at different scales and orientations. This step within our tutorial for how to create a pattern in Illustrator is necessary for filling in all the gaps. This step also ensures there is not crowding between elements in the final design.
Click “Done” to save your new pattern as a swatch. You can now apply this design to any set of dimensions seamlessly!
That’s all there is to it! Our creative Greenville NC agency encourages you to test your skills and discover more ways of learning how to create a pattern in Illustrator. If you find new methods, share your process on social media and tag us! For more tutorials from our graphic design Greenville NC professionals, head to our blog page or subscribe to our Red Shark Digital YouTube channel.