Learn how make a pattern in Illustrator. Basically, you create a rectangle and fill it with shapes (squares, circles, hexagons, stars), and other patterns and shapes that you can easily create.
Then it is just a matter of arranging the shapes in the box by using other tools to make the final pattern a seamless one that you can expand with the Object > Transform > Move / Copy tools.
That’s how easy making patterns in Illustrator seamless really is. Remember that this tutorial just shows you a basic way to create seamless shapes that can be expanded. You can use the same techniques you learn here, and import graphics that you or others have designed, and create artistic seamless patterns.
Use the colorful patterns you create as screensaver backgrounds for your computer. Remember that in Adobe Illustrator, you can resize the image as large as you want without losing clarity. This is because you are working in vector graphics format. Hope you enjoy. Have fun!
Watch the video
Simple seamless pattern in Adobe Illustrator
Create a new document in Illustrator. Select the Rectangle tool and click anywhere in white background. When the Rectangle window appears, enter 2 inch in both width and height.
Now we have a 2 inch by 2 inch area to make our pattern. Change the rectangle’s fill color to none and stroke to black (just to identify it). Make a second layer for the shapes that we’ll create. Now in the new layer, make a shape and change its fill color to black and stroke to none.
Now fill up the rectangle with different shapes with same color. Just deal with the top and left side. Keep the bottom and right side empty as you can see in the image below.
Now with the selection tool, drag select the shapes that overlaps the top border. To make sure you’re going right, press V to select the selection tool and drag outside of the rectangle of our pattern area.
Now with the selection tool still selected, press Enter or go to Object > Transform > Move. When the Move window appears, enter 0 in horizontal and 2 in vertical and click Copy. This will copy all that selected shapes to the bottom of our area.
By same process, select all the shapes that overlaps left border and press Enter or go to Object > Transform > Move. This time enter 2 in Horizontal and 0 in vertical and press copy.
Now some areas are still empty or some shapes are not well arranged. Arrange shapes and fill up the empty areas. Just make sure you don’t touch the shapes that overlap the borders.
Now cut the border from the layer 1 and paste it in front in layer 2 (our shape layer). To make sure you have the border on top, select the border and right click it then go to Arrange > Bring to Front. Now select all by pressing Ctrl + A or drag select all of them. Now go to Object > Clipping Mask > Make.
Now your seamless pattern is masked and ready to be used.
Just to make sure it’s working nicely, select it and go to Object > Transform > Move / Copy. Keep repeating this way to get the size of the pattern you want. Watch the video to see how it is done. This is how you make a seamless pattern in Illustrator.
With a bit more creativity, fill colors in all the original shapes before expanding.
Expand it as big as you want. Now you have a simple but colorful wallpaper background.