Three Simple Methods Perfect for Print on Demand

Are you frustrated with trying to coordinate your drapes and bedding, but can’t find the pattern of your dreams? Read more to discover my three favorite methods for creating dreamy seamless patterns you can have printed onto ready made goods or fabrics for the ultimate customization in your next home decor project.

What is a Seamless Pattern?

A seamless pattern is a design that connects with itself to repeat across a large area, creating an overall print. Typically, this kind of pattern is seen on fabric yardage, wallpapers, draperies or just about any patterned item you can imagine. And they have been around for centuries. If you’ve ever looked at a Renaissance portrait and studied the embroidery you have likely noticed that it is one continuous pattern. A seamless pattern, done meticulously by hand.

In the modern age, we fortunately have less time-consuming ways to mass produce beautiful patterns with consistency and a number of variations such as: scale, color, and material. In fact, making your own seamless pattern can be remarkably easy!

Hand Drawn Seamless Patterns

The first method, and oldest, is to create a couple of templates by hand, similar to a printing block.

As you can see it only takes two separate templates to create a pattern that will repeat across, let’s say a yard of fabric for example. The key to this process is in the alignment of your images. In my example I created a basic snowflake and ornament pattern. Notice how I centered several of my place markers along the edges of each paper. I made certain that no matter which edge of the papers I put next to each other the images would match up to create identical “tiles”.  Click here to watch my process for painting this pattern.

Before computers, physical tiles were made either by machine or hand. The material was then stamped or printed. Tiles could consist of several layers of details, like my pattern above. Tiles can still be made this way, and block printing is a fun way to make art (and an upcoming blog post). But I highly recommend using some sort of design software to make the process more efficient and accurate. I personally use Canva.

Preparing Your Pattern for Print on Demand

After scanning and uploading my completed paintings to Canva I had two options:

1. Use each tile as a whole and align them or,
2. Set about choosing the best of each type of snowflake as well as the best ornament and placing them on a grid.

For this pattern, I went with option two. This ensured a more consistent look to the pattern.

First, I simply created a new 6000×4000 pixel design and opened <<file, << settings, <<show rulers guidelines. Then I marked out equally spaced lines using the horizontal and vertical rulers. At this point in any project I do a very important step:

Remove the background from my images and clean up any areas I don’t like.

Tiling the grid is the last step. You can fill out the entire grid this way, but Canva’s built in group and duplicate makes this a snap.

1: To group items in Canva you need to select and scroll across any items you want to edit as a whole. Every item will highlight in purple as it is added to your “group”. This is an incredibly handy tool if you have spent time layering items only to discover the whole lot need to be shifted!

2: Once you have all items you wish highlighted in purple, simply click the group option and then duplicate. Voila! You will have a grouping of items that you can move freely around your canvas!

This is the End Result

Merchandise featuring this design is available here.

Pros:

1) When using your own artwork for patterns you can arrange every element where you want.

2) You choose all the elements you want and how many of each.

3) The pattern can be as colorful as you want.

Cons:

1) This method requires the most artistic ability.

2) The process is time consuming and involves a lot of trial and error.

3) Even with a grid in place it can be difficult to line up elements evenly.

Repper

I absolutely love Repper! Never heard of it? Well, let me tell you, it is amazing! Repper is a program that uses mathematical formulas to take a source image and create literal thousands of patterns from it. The opportunities are endless! Both the two patterns below and the one above were all made from the Cat source image.

The program has several features to adjust pattern size and color, and you can select from anywhere on the source image, so pattern options are limitless! Be forewarned, it’s easy to lose yourself for hours designing in Repper! It has so much to offer, and saving patterns is as easy as hitting the plus button on the screen. Seriously! It works on just about anything!

How to Use Those Patterns

Once you have several patterns you like you can export them to your computer in your chosen pixel size and pattern repeat. The program will warn you when certain patterns are too large for ideal print quality. This is easy to adjust by simply increasing repeat like so:

You can also upload your saved patterns into Canva and make your own collage using the same group and duplicate grid method I used for my hand drawn pattern.

You can check out Repper here.

Pros:

1) Repper is a simple and reliable way to create high quality designs.

2) The program is well designed and easy to work with from uploading your source image to downloading your saved patterns.

3) It is worth the subscription. I use this almost every day both for products I design to sell and for projects around my house.

4) Color matching is a breeze when you can take a picture of a vase on a white background and get thousands of patterns to make custom curtains from that image.

5) The program is able to handle large exports making pattern design for certain Print on Demand products easier.

Cons:

1) Patterns can be different aspect ratios. This means not every pattern you create will be seamless. To test this, I recommend exporting a tile image of your pattern and placing them onto, again, a grid to ensure they are truly seamless.

2) Because the program runs on a mathematical formula it is dissecting and refracting a piece of art, not creating a new image. The patterns are beautiful and surprisingly unique, however they will all be geometric patterns.

3) The color tool is awesome; however, it affects the entire image. For instance, if you have six colors in the original pattern created, you can’t change just one color. Or if you wanted to make the pattern blue and yellow on a white background, selecting blue and yellow will automatically color the background as well.

Generative Art

AI. Now this one is controversial and for good reason. Unfortunately, as typically happens when something new comes out that seems to be, as some try to sell it, the answer to your prayers-a one stop shop to overnight riches with little effort or time, is that it takes over. People then, knowingly or not, begin to spam marketplaces, social media, blogging, Youtube, you name it. This of course floods the market making it difficult for creatives who generate their own content to thrive and depriving the general public with human created unique ideas and products.

 In fact, in print on demand, it is required by most marketplaces that artists disclose the use of AI, or Generative Art, in their products. Personally, I have no problem with this form of art, IF it is properly utilized and acknowledged.  The spamming of marketplaces and creation of entire blog posts, videos, or even full-length books by AI has been noticed by the powers that be and it is being cracked down on.

While there is debate on whether or not Generative Art can be copyrighted it is also always best practice to thoroughly read the terms of use of any program you are using if you intend to sell it commercially. I’m no lawyer, but I would guess it’s easier to just follow the laws in the first place than to risk your business, reputation and/or legal restitution. Just do what’s right.  

But Can it Make Patterns?

Okay, with that out of the way, let’s get into why and how to use AI for seamless patterns. I experimented with Open Art AI, and I have to say, I was impressed. With a handful of prompts I wound up with several vibrant and high-quality patterns, as well as some interior design inspirations and mockups. But can AI actually fabricate a seamless pattern from just a prompt?

To test this, I took each of them into Canva and guess what? Not a single one of my seamless patterns was actually seamless. In fact, most of them were frustratingly close which translates to “This will be an even bigger pain to line up properly.”

And then I began to notice why some of the images just looked “off”. It doesn’t take long when working with AI before you begin to recognize on any platform, the uncanny valley, the snapchat filter look, the three legged bird…

Yep, most AI generated images contain almost insignificant errors (almost) that tell our brains something isn’t quite right with the overall picture. Even if the flaw isn’t readily recognizable. I was able to adjust this picture with a pretty decent result.

But after several attempts to adjust my generative images, I am still struggling to get them aligned just right in order to cover larger areas.

I can’t speak for everyone, but I would never sell something I wouldn’t want in my own home. However, I love some of my AI images enough to share them, so I found a compromise. Until I am able to get the patterns to work seamlessly as intended, I put them onto smaller objects which you can find here.

Pros:

1) On a well-trained model such as those found on Open Art AI, generating beautiful vibrant images is as easy as writing a prompt and clicking a button.

2) Images are graphic and vibrant so they will print well on a variety of surfaces and sizes.

3) You can instruct the program to design in virtually any style from abstract, to anime, to photo realism.

Cons:

1) AI is controversial so tread with caution. And there are steps to be taken prior to posting for commercial purposes—1) Read and follow the terms and conditions of the AI program, 2) Read and follow the terms and conditions regarding AI of the platform you post on, 3) Use a search tool such as Google Lens to ensure your image is not too similar to those already being sold.

2) AI has a look about it and almost always contains errors, some of which may not be easily corrected if at all.

3) Most programs are not free or may not allow you to download your images without a subscription.

4) Out of all the images I created during this experiment not a single one was entirely seamless so backend work on your part will be required.

So, What Method Makes the Best Seamless Patterns?

All three methods are viable for creating stunning seamless patterns.

If what you seek is a pattern or geometric print I recommend Repper hands down.

On the search for something in a certain style, but you lack the skill? AI can make truly beautiful art.

Are you wanting the most customization letting your own artwork shine? Then hand drawn may be the way for you.

It really depends on your preferences, your skill level, and the particular project you’re working on. I intend to continue to use each of these methods for my creation processes!

Now get out there and create something beautiful!

Links to my storefronts can be found here