Illustrator Trick #3: Repeated Patterns

By Tony Soh

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Do you have any idea how this repeated pattern is done in illustrator? If your answer is using Ctrl/Command+D to duplicate circles into rows, throw that idea away! Corey from Layers TV Episode will be showing his trick on created repeated pattern tiles easily using Effect>Distort & Transform>Transform. This is much powerful as you can make further adjustments under Appearance Palette. Here is a summary how it is done:

• Create a single instance of the shape you want to use
• Go to the Effects menu and choose Transform
• Use the Transform options to create your pattern
• You can see the effects of your option adjustments as you make them because this is a live effect
• After you’ve made your pattern, apply another Transform effect to the entire thing
• Go to Expand Appearance to turn the pattern into a regular group of objects
• Use Free Transform with the Command/Ctrl key to distort the pattern
• Draw a shape over the pattern, select both objects, and create a clipping mask

Remember to watch the full video tutorial from Layers TV Episode 35.

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About The Author: Tony Soh

Hi. I'm the founder of Vector Diary. Illustrator is my passion and I have written numerous tutorials on illustrator helping people learn illustrator. My most popular tutorial on learn illustrator has been a hit. It makes learning illustrator so easy and has benefited more than 20,000 people worldwide. Also, I've revealed some of my secret techniques in the premium tutorials. So don't forget to check it out!

Read all articles writen by this author

• Premium Tutorial: Illustrator Seamless Patterns
• Illustrator Trick #2: Tilde Fun
• 101 Illustrator Tips & Tricks
• Illustrator Tip #12: Transform Pattern
• Illustrator Trick #7: Aligning to objects

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+Add Comment8 Comments

1. 
   corey August 26th

   I wish you have a priview step(picture) for that step.

2. 
   Rahim November 24th

   Hey – i can’t understand.. pls explain…

3. 
   MichaelV January 2nd

   For us ‘dummies’ out here, could you perhaps give a few screen shots ‘as you go’ to provide a little more explanation of the steps taken? Thanks – and would be muchly appreciated.

4. 
   Mindy April 7th

   This is so easy! I figured it out myself with your instructions and played around with the Transform. This is such an useful, cool tip that saves time making patterns! Thanks for sharing!

5. 
   sebastiz July 2nd

   These instructions are pretty bad. A bit like saying that to build a car
   1. Get wheels
   2. Drive

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   Helen Matts November 14th

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8. 
   annonymous January 6th

   Anyone complaining about these instructions needs to RTFM or google terms they don’t understand e.g. how to use transform.
   I’ve been using illustrator for 3 days and i understood it just fine.
   Concise and to the point instructions are a refreshing change to all the 2 page articles and 20min videos about.