This tutorial was written using PSP7, but should work in fine in PSP6.  You will learn how to make a seamless, patterned background, such as the one I used on this page.

***  PART II  ***

WARNING: I find tutorials with lots of visuals much easier to follow so I use a lot of screen shots in my tutorials.  This one is no exception, so please be patient and give the page time to load - you won't be sorry!

The following steps will show you how to make a seamless pattern out of just about any pattern you make with PSP.

1. Set (change) your grid lines to 50 for both horizontal and vertical.

2. View/Snap to grid.
(This is a great feature in PSP - it forces your images to "square up" with your grid lines - but it can be aggravating when you don't want it, so remember to turn it off when you're done using it!)

3. PSP7: Double click on your selection tool and enter the following numbers:

4. PSP8: Click your selection tool and choose Custom Selection (see red arrow):

(tool bar split for size reduction)

7. Enter your custom settings:

6. Open a new image: 200x200, transparent background, 16M colors

7. Edit/Paste as a new layer (Ctrl+L), your image should look like this:

8. With your mover tool click on your "lattice" and move it up to the left corner.  You will see that your image "jumps" into the corner, perfectly aligned with the grid lines:

9. Right click on Layer2 in your Layer Palette box and choose duplicate.

10. Click on Image/Mirror, your image will look like this:

11. Turn off the visibility for Layer1 in your Layer Palette box:

12. Right lick on Layer2 and choose Merge/Merge Visible.

13. Right click on your Merged layer and choose duplicate.

14. Click on Image/Flip, your image will look like this:

15. Make sure the visibility for Layer1 is still turned off and merge the other two layers.

16. I like to work on a larger canvas size, but 200x200 is too large for a background image in my opinion, so we need to reduce the size.  You could simply resize your image by 50%, but I think the following method gives you a clearer image.  If you're not terribly picky, you can simply resize your graphic by 50% now (make sure all layers is checked) and skip ahead to step 22.

17. click on your deformation tool   and you will see this:

18. Using your right mouse button, click on the little square in the upper right corner.   The little square in the corner are a little hard to see, but you'll know when you've got it because your tool image will change from this: , to this: .  While holding your mouse button down, drag the corner to the center of your canvas (the 100, 100 coordinates), until you end up with this:

19. Once you're sure you're aligned properly - (notice the blue lines - they let me know that I'm lined up exactly on my grid lines) - click Apply in your Tool Options Box.

20. Double click your selection tool and enter the following numbers:

21. Click on Image/Crop to Selection (Shift+R).

22. Make Layer1 active and flood fill with white.

23. Now play with the opacity on your pattern layer. For the background on this page I set my opacity to 10%.

24. Once you're happy with your image save it as a gif or jpg file.

25. THAT'S IT - YOU'VE GOT A SEAMLESS BACKGROUND IMAGE TO USE FOR YOUR WEB PAGE OR STATIONERY!

Part 3 will show you how to make a seamless pattern from a picture.

On to Part III

Want some other ideas for patterns?  Click here.

 All Art Work & Graphics Designed by Cathy
Copyright © 1999 - 2003 by Cathy.
All rights reserved.
Revised: April 06, 2008.