This tutorial will show you how to fill custom shapes with repeating patterns in Adobe Photoshop CS2.
For this tutorial I’m using one of my free patterns but you can use any pattern as long as it repeats on all sides.
In Photoshop, Click the File menu and choose Open.
Find the pattern file you want to use and open it.
Click the Edit menu and choose Define Pattern
Give your pattern a name and click ok
You’ve now defined a pattern that you can open and use in any image you create. How cool is that?
Click the File menu and choose New
Choose a file size (I’m using 400px by 200px but you can choose any size.)
Use the elliptical marquee tool to drag a circular selection like this…
Click the Edit menu and choose Fill
In the first dropdown box choose Pattern
In the second dropdown box select the pattern you want to use. It will probably be right at the bottom of the list. When you’re done, the option window should look like this…
Click the Ok button and your shape will fill with the pattern. I repeated the selection a couple of times and here’s mine…
This tutorial has only just scratched the surface. You can do so many things with patterns in Photoshop. For maximum effect I use the pen tool to create custom shapes then use layers, masks and blend modes to get impressive effects. Have fun.
