How to Manipulate Seamless Patterns in Illustrator, Part 2

By Erica Truex, Shutterstock Submitter

Continued from Part 1, we‘ll now examine additional creative ways to enhance your designs by warping and manipulating self-made vector patterns in Adobe Illustrator.

Experiment with Warping

1. Select your expanded object.
2. Press “Cmd+H” (“Ctrl+H” for PC) to temporarily hide your selection edges. (This will give you a better view when experimenting with Warp Options.)

3. Go to Effect> Warp> Arc.

4. With the Preview checkbox on, feel free to experiment with the Style and other settings.

5. Click OK to apply your favorite effect. Don‘t forget to press “Cmd+H” again to restore your selection edges.

6. If you would like to expand the warp, go to Object> Expand Appearance.

Create a Pattern Brush

1. Click the New Brush icon in the Brushes Palette.

2. Select “New Pattern Brush” and click OK.

3. Choose a pattern. Experiment with other settings for your desired effect. (For extra customization, you can choose four additional patterns to correspond to each section of the brushstroke.)