In this post I will show you how to quickly create a seamless simple geometric pattern swatch in Adobe Illustrator. In the last (extra) step I will show you a very simple way to ‘export’ it as a pattern to Photoshop.
First, have a look at what we aim to obtain (this pattern is inspired by the fabric of my favorite tunic).
1. With the Rectangle Tool (M) create a rectangle 20 px (width) x 60 px (height). Set stroke to none and fill to black.
2. With the black rectangle selected go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform… and choose the settings as below. Next go to Object menu and Expand Appearance.
Ungroup the bottom rectangles Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+G.
3. Once the rectangles are ungrouped you can change their fill colors. I used:
4. With the Direct Selection Tool (A) select the the top parts of your rectangles (so that to include all top apices) and drag it a little to the right holding down the Shift key (drag as you like, don’t worry – you can change it any time). Alternatively you can group your rectangle, select the group and use Object > Transform > Shear…
5. Group your rectangles Cmd/Ctrl+G and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform… and choose the settings as below 
7. Again go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform… Choose Apply New Effect and the settings as follows:
8. And once again (yes to Apply New Effect) and:
9. Creat a rectangle 80 px (width) x 120 px (height) (80 = number of colorful rectangles x width of a single rectangle; 120 = 2 x height of a single rectangle). Set its fill and stroke to none and send it to the very bottom of the layer Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+[. Select all. In the Align Panel choose: (1) Horizontal Align Center and (2) Vertical Align Top.
10. Now, drag your selection (make sure the whole layer is selected) to the Swatches Panel or go to Edit > Define Pattern… It’s done!
11. If you want to use this pattern in Photoshop, here is how to do it ultra-quickly: with a Rectangle Tool (M) create a rectangle 80 px x 120 px and fill it with your pattern (no stroke). Select it, copy and paste in Photoshop into a file that has the same canvas size. Go to Edit > Define Pattern…
Below: the tunic inspiration. Thnx to Pinkonhead for taking the photo and to Joe Vains for suggesting this idea ;) :)
I hope you find this tutorial useful, all comments are highly appreciatied. Please share and bookmark!
Je savais que ce chemisier était fait sous Illustrator…
Bravo, PeHaa… :) :) :)
Thank you, it helped me loads in my art work!!!!
Very nice tut. Thank you!
nice tutorial it helped me loads, thanks!