Adobe Illustrator CC For Dummies

Chapter 13

Designing with Patterns

IN THIS CHAPTER

Applying pattern swatches to paths and shapes

Applying patterns to strokes and text

Creating your own patterns

Scaling and position patterns within graphics

Layering multiple patterns

Pattern fills are discrete artwork than can be applied to fills and strokes in an almost unimaginable range of ways, including but far from limited to

• Fabric and fashion design
• Typographic effects
• Stroke patterns for dynamic effect
• A design treatment for graphics

I use these examples in the chapter to introduce you to how to apply patterns from Illustrator’s impressive presets. I also show you how to create and apply your own custom patterns.

Patterns, explored in this chapter, have a cousin in Illustrator: pattern brushes, which also can be deployed to design and apply repeating artwork, as I explain in Chapter 11. When do you use which? The short story is, if you want to design a pattern that repeats along a stroke, including on the borders of ...