Use this trick to populate your page with patterns.
March 2009
Step and repeat
Here is a simple keyboard
shortcut to
make great patterns
in Photoshop.
1. Create a new document
in Photoshop.
For this tutorial, our
document is 1800 x
2400 pixels, 300 ppi.
2. In the Layers palette,
select the Create
a new layer icon.
3. In the Tools palette,
click and hold
the mouse on the
Rectangle tool to open
up the flyout menu.
Select the Custom
Shape tool.
4. Select the Options
arrow next to Shape to
open up the Custom
Shape tool forms.
Chose one of the
arrow shapes.
5. Select the Fill pixels
box in the upper-left
corner of the
Navigation bar.
6. Using the Custom
Shape tool, draw an
arrow in the center of
the document.
7. Press Option +
Command + T on the
keyboard to duplicate
the selection while
simultaneously activating
Free Transform.
Move the crosshair
in the center of the
shape to the far right.
8. Set the rotation
for the shape to 15
degrees. Hit the
Return key.
9. Now press Shift +
Option + Command
+ T. This will copy a
new shape and rotate
it to the previous 15
degrees every time
you use that keyboard
command. Press Shift
+ Option + Command
+ T another 22 times
to finish the circle.
10. In the Layers palette,
select all layer
copies of the arrow.
11. Drag the selected
layers to the Group
icon to place them in a
group folder. This way
it is easier to move the
shape without having
to flatten the individual
arrows into one
form. You can use this
step and repeat function
to create a wide
variety of linear forms
and patterns.
