Have you been dying to know how a pattern or palette was made?

I'd like to start a collection on what you guys, the COLOURlovers, would like to know about what other COLOURlovers are doing with creations. If you'd like tutorials written up, please submit your Q's here so that I can get this going.

To Submit a Topic Suggestion:

You need to state specifically what you would like to learn from the items you posted/linked to (I'm not going to guess, so please be specific).

Include pattern/palette badges you are referencing in your questions (if relevant).

This is NOT a section for site "how-to's" or FAQ. Although it does need to get done and live on the site (agreed).

Thanks!
- Molly
Community Curator / Blog Editor

I am in awe of the people who can see past what I perceive as the limitations of Seamless Web. THese are just a few in my category of "how'd you do that?"

This one's probably so simple, I'm going to be embarrassed for asking.


For this one, I want to know how to get that "screening" effect.


this is another deceptively simple one. What shapes were used and how do you keep the layers straight?


Where do the curvy lines with outlines come from, and the squiggles the stars are made from?


This one is so incredible I don't know where to start.


Ditto this one. Did you have an idea of what the colored pattern would look like?

I'll stop there. :)

Oh!!
Two of them are mine! Gee thanks ^^'
Nearly all my patterns are made with the web version - and old now

I know it's not here that I should answer, but meanwhile.. why not? It info to create the tutorial/how to..

I don't always remember and a lot of the effects depends on very small distances and so difficult to reproduce.

I can tell you that the 1st one is only zigzags displayed tightly.
and the 2nd is repeated hand draw arcs.

I tend to repeat the same shapes - like this one below is also one shape - I tried to reproduce this but never managed :



eg: these two were supposed to be the same concept but tiny differences make a big difference in the end - and so I deviated and made them different
(These come from my Pattern Didn't Save thread)

I don't know about that specific one by thirdbreakfast but in this one:

You can read in the sidebar:
For anyone curious this is composed of flattened hexagons arranged in a lineand duplicated ad infinitum.

I cannot figure out how to do stripes and plaids. Must be simple and I can't figure out how to get consistency with the lines.

Have you tried holding down the shift key when you draw a line with the line tool? That should constrain it to be exactly a 90 or 45 degree angle.
Also, try making plaids or stripes with the square tool in the basic shapes. You can select your square, then pull it to any rectangle or line you like from a corner.

eighteyed wrote:

Have you tried holding down the shift key when you draw a line with the line tool? That should constrain it to be exactly a 90 or 45 degree angle.
Also, try making plaids or stripes with the square tool in the basic shapes. You can select your square, then pull it to any rectangle or line you like from a corner.

Only just came across this thread... anyway I have to say I've actually used shift in making my stripe patterns and even though on the screen where I'm making the template it looks perfect - when it's actually used there's tiny variations and somehow it's not actually as lined up as what I thought. Or when I use simple shapes to make different shapes, even though it looks like it's lined up... it hasn't. And as I tend to be a perfectionist in getting things perfectly lined up it can get annoying.
So the holding down shift is definitely a good method, but to be honest I find that the snap grid it follows or whatever is kind of flawed. Which is a bit of a bummer, cause one of my favourite patterns to make is using lines of dots/circles and it's a pain not being able to line them up perfectly.