This tutorial will walk you through how to install and use a Photoshop pattern set. You can find our patterns here.
1. First off, download the pattern set. In this example, I will be using our Lace Patterns set. It will come in ZIP format, so you’ll need to unzip it using your favorite ZIP extraction software.
The place that you’re going to want to unzip it is important. If you put it into your Photoshop Patterns folder, the next time you open up Photoshop, that pattern will be sitting there already available for use. Very handy! So, extract the file (in this case, SS-lace-patterns.pat) into your Program Files > Adobe > Photoshop (whatever version you have) > Presets > Patterns folder.
2. Open Photoshop. Click File > New.. and make it 500 by 500 pixels. You can keep the resolution at 72 pixels or whatever it is set to initially. Make sure the color mode is RGB. Set the “Background Contents” to transparent. This means you will be starting with a completely transparent canvas, rather than a white background.
On the tools palette, choose any foreground color.
Using the paint bucket tool, click anywhere on your canvas. It should fill completely up with that color.
3.Now we need to make sure that your layers palette is visible. To do that, click on “Window” in the top menu, and be sure there is a checkmark next to “Layers.” If there isn’t, click on it. Your layers palette should look something like this.
Keep in mind that when you apply a pattern, you’ll be applying it to the entire layer. So, if you wanted the pattern to only apply to a certain part of your image, you would need that part of the image on its own layer.
We’re going to be applying it to that whole layer we just filled in with the paint bucket, in this case. To do so, click on the Layer Styles button on the lower left hand side of your layers palette, which I’ve highlighted in red. Select “Pattern Overlay..”
4.A menu will pop up, and if you look back at your canvas, you’ll notice that a pattern is now covering it!
See how none of that blue (or whatever color you chose) shows through? That’s because the “Blend Mode” is set to “Normal.” We’ll talk more about Blend Modes later – for now, leave it on normal. To change the pattern, click on that small rectangle to the right of the pattern image. I’ve highlighted it in red here.
5.A smaller window with a bunch of other patterns will pop up. If this is your first time using Photoshop’s patterns, you will be seeing one of their default pattern sets. What you see in the image to the right is our Micro Patterns set.
Changing the pattern is as easy as clicking on one of those little boxes. Feel free to do so now, and watch as the pattern on your canvas changes.
Now, to load the lace patterns set.
Click on the small arrow on the right side of all the patterns.
6.A menu will pop up that looks like the one here (although the top part of mine is cut off).
The bottom section is all the different pattern sets that you have installed on your computer. Photoshop comes with quite a few sets already.
In order to change to another pattern set, simply click on that set’s name. If you have put your SS-lace-patterns in the proper directory, it should be showing up in your list now. Click on it to select it, then click “Ok” if a box pops up asking you if you want to “Replace current patterns with the patterns from SS-lace-patterns.pat?”
7.You should now be viewing the thumbnails from my Lace Patterns set.
Now to play around with this a bit.
Choose a lace pattern. I’ve chosen the pretty beige one you can see to the right.
Once you click on it, you’ll be back to the “Layer Style” box and should see that pattern on your canvas.
Notice the “Scale” option?
Here’s what that pattern looks like at 100% (its original size).
8.Slide that little arrow to the right and left and see what happens.
See how the pattern gets bigger or smaller?
That’s the beauty of patterns. They are (or should be) seamless, so they will repeat over and over across the entire surface of the layer that you apply them to, and you can make them whatever size you want.
The image on the right shows that same pattern with a scale of 11%.
While you’re still on this screen, you can shift the pattern around, too. Just click anywhere on your canvas, and drag the pointer around. This will move the pattern with it. Try it and see.
If at any point you want to return to its original position, click on the “Snap to Origin” button.
9.That’s all well and good, but what if you like the lace pattern but don’t want it to be pink/peach?
No problem! Remember how your layer was blue? (Or whatever color you made it.) Using the “Blend Mode” option, you can change the way that the current pattern interacts with the layer that you have it applied to.
I changed mine to “Luminosity” and look at what happened!
The different blend modes would be a tutorial in themselves to explain, so I’m just going to say go ahead and change it to each one to try it out and see how it changes on your canvas.
10.Here it is using Vivid Light.
Also notice that I changed the Opacity. That’s another setting that you can play around with. If you barely want the lace pattern to show up, use a lower opacity.
When you have your settings how you want them, click “Ok.”
That’s it! You can now use patterns in Photoshop.
You can apply patterns in a layer style (like we just did) to any layers you want, including text and shapes! (Check out the title of this tutorial above.)
I am trying to install these patterns on Photoshop Elements 6 but I do not have a “Layer Styles” button in my Layers Pallette. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
I have a question…
I downloaded the Patterns, and I extracted them to my GIMP Patterns folder
whenever I refresh my Patterns this error shows up:
GIMP Message
Failed to load data:
Fatal parse error in pattern file ‘C:\Users\A\.gimp-2.6\patterns\SS-micro-patterns.pat’: Unknown pattern format version 65536
Can you please help?
I’m not sure that these patterns work in GIMP. All of my brushes will work in GIMP 2.2.6+, but these were all made in Photoshop. GIMP has allowed functionality for PS brushes, but I’m not sure that they have yet for patterns. You may need to download the image files and make them into GIMP patterns instead.
i’ve downloaded your brushes but when i xtract it ,it failed to open..help me
What’s it saying? It could have been a bad download, try it again? Sometimes they can get corrupted.
Otherwise, let me know what it’s saying, and what extraction program you’re using and perhaps I can try to help!
THANK YOU!!!! SO INFORMATIVE! followed it step by step! perfect for beginners like me!
I tried to install a pattern file I downloaded from here and this is what I got:
Error: access denied. Cannot create C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS4\Presets\Patterns\SS-animalprints-patterns.pat. Administrative privileges may be required.
I’m running Windows Vista – could that be the reason? Thanks in advance!
It definitely sounds like a Windows Vista thing, seeing that it has to do with permissions. Make sure your Vista account is an admin one. Other than that, I’m afraid I’m not sure what to tell you – I’m a Mac user, and haven’t used Windows in a while. :(
You could try an internet search for similar errors, and see what that gives you. Good luck!
thx for share.. its perfectly fine..
This was a great tutorial! Thank you so much for making your patterns available AND including a lesson on how to use them. Truly great!
Wow that is amazing…thank you so much for uploading these… you are a diamond
Perfect! My wife is a huge fan of all things Bovine! I used your cow print pattern to make a birthday card for her. It came out great. Thanks!
Thanks i’ve downloaded the brush… worked fine.
Thanks, your website and resources are great.
I have a question, is it possible to cut a rectangule from the page where i painted with thepattern and paste it to a new layer?
When i do it what is comes up when i paste it to a new layer is a rectangule with the background color i initially have on my layer.
thanks for your help
When you do a regular cut and paste, it will only cut or copy whatever is on that particular layer, and will NOT take into consideration the layer effects on that layer. If you want to cut and paste a rectangle of exactly what’s showing (all of the layers, including effects), then do a CTRL-SHIFT-C (or CMD-SHIFT-C on a Mac) when you copy. That’ll get all the layers, and it should look exactly the same as it did in the original image.
I tried to unzip the file into CS4 as instructed but cannot find the presets folder. What am I doing wrong? Have managed the brushes fine, but this one is proving difficult. Thanks so much for all your resources.
Try doing a search for “presets” in your operating system. It should absolutely be inside your Photoshop folder, or it wouldn’t allow you to load ANY brushes, even the ones that come with Photoshop. But a search may be just what you need to eyeball it. I do the same thing sometimes!
Hope this helps!
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Er, patterns – not brushes! The Presets folder is the same one that your brushes folder is found within, though, so if you found that folder, this one should be in the same place.
Thanks. All sorted. It wasn’t coming up with the right folder when I went to choose where to unzip it to , but when I unzipped it and then went through “My Computer” and found the destination, I dragged them into there and Voila! It worked! Thanks again for the responses.
Mercy or Marcy-
I have Vista and you’re supposed to select all files in the extract box, so highlight them all, grab them all or select them all and either drag and drop into that folder or copy and paste. I think they both work. Try them both. Vista will then ask you for permission, if you’re normally an admin on your PC you will be able to allow and, wallah! in the folder they go. If you try to extract them the way we normally would Vista will block it and you will receive errors as if the extracting program is at fault.
What if you would like to add stripes and stars? So, 2 different patterns? Then what? It seems I can only allow one pattern.
If you want two patterns over one another, per se, you’ll have to make a new layer beneath that first one where you have your pattern. Then merge the pattern layer down onto that layer beneath. That will embed the pattern into that layer, rather than still being a layer style. Then, you can go and add another pattern as a layer style to that layer, and choose a blending mode like “Overlay” so that you can still see the stuff on the layer beneath.
Hope this helps!
Thank you SO MUCH Stephanie :D I’ll try it, it should work. Sounds right! haha :)
Well it gets more difficult because I selected the shape of my flag (with magnetic lasso) hoping to add the stars on my flag. The first pattern I used that’s intact were the stripes but the stars just add to the whole thing instead of whatever is selected inside of the magnetic lasso (the flag). Sorry if that’s confusing but how do I add the stars in the shape of a flag? I already have the flag selected with magnetic lasso. Thanks again : )
Once you have it selected, try copying and pasting it onto a new layer, so that only the part you want altered is on that new layer. Then when you apply the pattern as a layer style, it will only show up where you want it to.
Hope this helps!
what extraction software should I use, have a bunch of zipped files downloaded and I can not figure out how to unzip them, its driving me CRAZY!!!
I would recommend just sticking with the extraction software that came with your operating system. Both Windows and Mac (and I’m sure Linux) comes with one. Click on “unzip it” in the first step to see how to extract them with both Windows and Mac.
A lot of it is dependant on what OS you’re using, so I can only offer so much help with unzipping, but it should help!
I can’t find the folder :(
I have Photoshop CS5
Try doing a search in your operating system? (Windows/Mac/etc) If you didn’t install it into the default place, it could be anywhere. But doing a search for a “brushes” or “presets” folder should get you where you need to be.
The way you present this post is grate. Every one can understand this post so easily with the help of proper screen shot.Now i know how to install Photoshop pattern.
Thank you so much for this. They are absolutely wonderful and I am looking forward to using all the patterns :)