Tips In Making Patterns

Create your own brushes in Photoshop

Watch this video, follow the written tutorial, or use both!

1. Open a new canvas in Photoshop. The dimensions do not matter, as long as it’s a square canvas.
2. Create a new layer.
3. If you want to make a symmetrical brush, you can select the Symmetry button on the toolbar. You can choose between various types of symmetry. This way, what you draw on one side will be precisely mirrored on the other.
4. Draw your design. If you used Symmetry, turn it off once you’re finished.
5. Select the whole pattern. Click Edit on the toolbar, and select Define Brush Preset. Save the brush under your preferred name.

Fine-Tuning your Brush

1. With your brush selected, open the Brush Settings from the corresponding icon in the right-hand toolbox.
   • To increase the space between the individual patterns when you use the brush to make strokes, you can adjust the Spacing slider at the bottom of the dialog box.
   • To make the brush bend and flow according to the direction of your brush strokes, click on Shape Dynamics > Control > Direction.
2. To save these new settings, click the icon on the upper-right of the dialog box, and click New Brush Preset. Save the brush under your preferred name.

Brushes in Action: Creating a Polka-Dot Pattern in Photoshop

1. Load your textures into Photoshop. Select your brush (for this, a simple round brush will do) and your preferred color.
2. Create a new Layer. Hit F5 on your keyboard to pull up the Brush Settings. It can also be found under Windows in the menu bar.
3. In Brush Tip Shape, you can play around with the spacing and size of the brush.
4. To create a straight line of dots, click on one end of your texture. Hold down Shift on your keyboard as you drag the line to the other end of the texture.
5. Replicate the pattern on another line by replicating the layer (dragging it down to the Layers tab). You can adjust the second layer relative to the first by dragging it. Once down, merge the two polka-dot layers by selecting them (Ctrl+Click) and right-clicking them. On the menu, click Merge Layers. Repeat the process of duplicating and merging until you fill the texture with the polka-dot pattern. You can also scale the pattern using the Transform tool to shrink or enlarge the dots.
6. Save the pattern (File > Save) and test how it looks like on IMVU by importing the texture into your product! You can make adjustments as you wish.

Using an Image as a Pattern in Photoshop

1. Load your textures into Photoshop. Also load the image or graphic you will be using as a pattern. The image should be on a new layer atop the original texture. You can scale and adjust the image relative to the texture.
2. If you have a PNG image or one with a transparency, you need to rasterize the layer before it can be edited. Right-click on the image layer and click Rasterize.
3. In the Layers toolbox, go to the dropdown that says Normal and select the best look for your pattern.
4. Once the pattern looks right, save the texture by hitting File > Save As. Remember to save as .JPG to reduce your image size!
5. Test the new texture out with your product, and make changes as necessary!