The New Pattern Preview in Photoshop

If you could have everything you wished for, would you want to see the return of the Adobe Textile Designer plug-in? Have you yearned for a simpler way to create pattern repeats in Photoshop? Well, if you answered ”Yes” to those questions, you will love this class. It’s all about a new feature added in Photoshop 2021, the Pattern Preview. This new feature makes Photoshop pattern design similar to Illustrator in that you see a live preview of the design as you are arranging it. 

The name Pattern Preview is deceiving as it is more than a preview tool. In these lessons, you will learn to use the Pattern Preview tool for making an intricate fitted pattern. I will show you the value of Smart Objects and how to make a variety of backgrounds. Upon completion of the lessons, you will have a range of patterns useful for submitting for art licensing, Spoonflower and any POD sites like Society6, Spoonflower, and RedBubble.

This class is suitable for artists with some knowledge of Photoshop and pattern design in general, but it will also be good information for beginners. While the tech is a bit complicated, you will see the main focus of this class is composing the pattern and readying the repeat for use. Throughout the class, I demonstrate troubleshooting techniques for problems that sometimes occur with this Pattern Previewer.

The key concepts I will include are:

1. Arranging elements into an effective pattern
2. Creating a tile that can be repeated seamlessly
3. Changing the background of the design using multiple methods
4. Backing up your patterns
5. Review of my techniques in creating the initial layout
6. Perfecting the composition
7. Approaches you can take in your creative work

This is a great course for you to take no matter what you plan to be using the art for. Learn to work efficiently in a professional way.

Introduction:

This short intro will give you an overview of the class.

Lesson 1: Motifs in Procreate and Exporting

In this short video, I will show you the pattern motifs I created in Procreate. I will give you a quick walk-through of the liquify filter and hue and saturation adjustments. Then I will show you the entire export process creating a layered PSD file we can use in Photoshop.

Lesson 2: Photoshop Initial Set Up

In this lesson I will explain my process for setting up the initial repeat. I speak of the demise of the Adobe Textile Designer and the introduction of the new pattern previewer feature. I explain the merits of smart objects and I demonstrate troubleshooting problems that sometimes occur with this Pattern Previewer.

Lesson 3: Backgrounds and Color Adjustments

In this lesson, we will finish the initial pattern tile so that we can talk about adding backgrounds. I will show you several methods to add backgrounds and to change their color. I will also show you how to change motif colors and I will also explain how to edit smart objects. At the end of the lesson I show you how to recolour the pattern entirely if need be.

Lesson 4: Alternate Imported Backgrounds

In this lesson, I show you how to add a textured seamless pattern as a background. The final step will be to save the single repeat.

Lesson 5: Exporting a Multi Repeat and the Single Tile

This lesson focuses on saving the files you have created. I will show you how to export the PAT file for safekeeping of your patterns. We will save the Photoshop PAT file as well as creating a large document for use on a POD site. Lastly, we will export the single pattern repeat.

Lesson 6: Wrap Up

Here we look at some of the color options and how they looked as mockups. This last segment will wrap up all we discussed and give you a starting point and encouragement to start today!

Concepts covered:

Concepts covered include but are not limited to Procreate filter techniques, Procreate brushes, hue and saturation, liquify, Procreate export and airdrop, introduction to the new Pattern previewer in photoshop, layer adjustments, hue and saturation adjustment layer, clipping adjustment layers, setting up patterns in photoshop, smart object creation and rationale, pattern previewer pointers, alternate backgrounds in pattern previewer, background color adjustments in pattern previewer, exporting PAT file, saving and using the pattern tile, exporting a single repeat from previewer, setting up a half-drop repeat in previewer, pattern design with previewer workflow best practices, and much more.

You will get the bonus of…

1. about 50 minutes of direction from an instructor who has been in the graphic design business and education for over 40 years
2. knowledge of multiple ways to solve each design challenge

This class is suitable for artists with some knowledge of Photoshop and pattern design in general, but it will also be good information for beginners.

The key concepts I will include are:

1. Arranging elements into an effective pattern
2. Creating a tile that can be repeated seamlessly
3. Changing the background of the design using multiple methods
4. Backing up your patterns
5. Review of my techniques in creating the initial layout
6. Perfecting the composition
7. Approaches you can take in your creative work

Concepts covered include but are not limited to Procreate filter techniques, Procreate brushes, hue and saturation, liquify, Procreate export and airdrop, introduction to the new Pattern previewer in photoshop, layer adjustments, hue and saturation adjustment layer, clipping adjustment layers, setting up patterns in photoshop, smart object creation and rationale, pattern previewer pointers, alternate backgrounds in pattern previewer, background color adjustments in pattern previewer, exporting PAT file, saving and using the pattern tile, exporting a single repeat from previewer, setting up a half-drop repeat in previewer, pattern design with previewer workflow best practices, and much more.

Photoshop experience is an asset with recommended pattern making experience.