As I've mentioned in previous posts, I got a beading loom for Christmas. It's a Beadsmith-brand Rick's Beading Loom, big enough to create bracelets or bookmarks or small panels of beaded tapestries. This week, I've spent several hours in Photoshop creating patterns. Here's how I made the grid for my patterns.
(Note: I have a copy of Photoshop CS2, and I used that to make my grids and to make the images shown in this tutorial. I have limited experience with CS5 and CS6, but as far as I know, all of the steps in this tutorial should still be applicable in later versions of the program. If I'm wrong, please let me know, and I'll make any corrections needed. I hope to get further experience in CS5 or CS6 soon, so I should hopefully learn of any changes, if there are any, in the near future.)
In this tutorial, I assume you have at least a minimal understanding of Photoshop, so I hope that's the case. The grid is going to be most suitable for seed beads of a uniform size, so each cell of the grid will have the shape of a rectangle.
1. Create a new image file. I set mine at 500 pixels wide by 1000 pixels high at a 180 ppi resolution.
2. Select the line tool. Set the weight to 5 px.
3. Hold down the shift key and draw a horizontal line. For the purposes of clarity, rename the layer "horizontal 1."
4. Create a new layer. In the Layers Window, position the new layer beneath the "horizontal 1" layer. Use the paintbrush tool to fill it with the color white.
5. Duplicate the layer "horizontal 1" (Select the layer in the Layers Window and go to Layer -> Duplicate Layer). The new layer will be labeled "horizontal 1 copy." Rename it to "horizontal 2."
6. Move the duplicated line above or below the first line.
7. Select "horizontal 1" and "horizontal 2" in the layers window. Duplicate these layers. Rename "horizontal 1 copy" to "vertical 1" and rename "horizontal 2 copy" to "vertical 2."
8. Select "vertical 1" and "vertical 2" in the layers window. Rotate 90 degrees (Edit -> Rotate -> Rotate 90 Degrees CW).
9. At the center of these four lines, there should be a square. Select "vertical 2" in the Layers Window. Move it slightly closer to "vertical 1." Now you should have a rectangle instead of a square.
10. Select the Zoom Tool in the Tool Window. Zoom in on the rectangle.
11. Select the Rectangular Marquee Tool in the Tool Window. Select the top and left sides of the rectangle and the white interior of the rectangle.
12. Go to Edit -> Define Pattern.
13. In the New Pattern menu, give your pattern a name and hit "OK."
14. Zoom back out. Create a new layer (Layer -> New -> Layer). In the Layers Window, position it above all the other layers.
15. Select the paint tool. Fill the new layer with a solid color.
16. Open the Pattern Overlay menu (Layer -> Layer Style -> Pattern Overlay).
17. In the Layer Style Pattern Overlay menu, you'll see a thumbnail next to the word "Pattern:". Click on the arrow beside the thumbnail. In the pull-down menu, select the thumbnail of your pattern. Hit OK.
18. A grid should appear in the layer.
19. Duplicate the layer.
20. In the Layers Window, right click on the duplicated layer. Select "Group into New Smart Object." Right click on the layer again and select "Rasterize Layer."
21. In the Tools Window, select the paint tool. Select "Contiguous" in the paint tool options toolbar.
22. You've now got a grid you can use to make your pattern. Use the paint tool to fill in individual squares of the grid to make your pattern.
(Note: I have a copy of Photoshop CS2, and I used that to make my grids and to make the images shown in this tutorial. I have limited experience with CS5 and CS6, but as far as I know, all of the steps in this tutorial should still be applicable in later versions of the program. If I'm wrong, please let me know, and I'll make any corrections needed. I hope to get further experience in CS5 or CS6 soon, so I should hopefully learn of any changes, if there are any, in the near future.)
In this tutorial, I assume you have at least a minimal understanding of Photoshop, so I hope that's the case. The grid is going to be most suitable for seed beads of a uniform size, so each cell of the grid will have the shape of a rectangle.
1. Create a new image file. I set mine at 500 pixels wide by 1000 pixels high at a 180 ppi resolution.
2. Select the line tool. Set the weight to 5 px.
3. Hold down the shift key and draw a horizontal line. For the purposes of clarity, rename the layer "horizontal 1."
4. Create a new layer. In the Layers Window, position the new layer beneath the "horizontal 1" layer. Use the paintbrush tool to fill it with the color white.
5. Duplicate the layer "horizontal 1" (Select the layer in the Layers Window and go to Layer -> Duplicate Layer). The new layer will be labeled "horizontal 1 copy." Rename it to "horizontal 2."
6. Move the duplicated line above or below the first line.
7. Select "horizontal 1" and "horizontal 2" in the layers window. Duplicate these layers. Rename "horizontal 1 copy" to "vertical 1" and rename "horizontal 2 copy" to "vertical 2."
8. Select "vertical 1" and "vertical 2" in the layers window. Rotate 90 degrees (Edit -> Rotate -> Rotate 90 Degrees CW).
9. At the center of these four lines, there should be a square. Select "vertical 2" in the Layers Window. Move it slightly closer to "vertical 1." Now you should have a rectangle instead of a square.
10. Select the Zoom Tool in the Tool Window. Zoom in on the rectangle.
11. Select the Rectangular Marquee Tool in the Tool Window. Select the top and left sides of the rectangle and the white interior of the rectangle.
12. Go to Edit -> Define Pattern.
13. In the New Pattern menu, give your pattern a name and hit "OK."
14. Zoom back out. Create a new layer (Layer -> New -> Layer). In the Layers Window, position it above all the other layers.
15. Select the paint tool. Fill the new layer with a solid color.
16. Open the Pattern Overlay menu (Layer -> Layer Style -> Pattern Overlay).
17. In the Layer Style Pattern Overlay menu, you'll see a thumbnail next to the word "Pattern:". Click on the arrow beside the thumbnail. In the pull-down menu, select the thumbnail of your pattern. Hit OK.
18. A grid should appear in the layer.
19. Duplicate the layer.
20. In the Layers Window, right click on the duplicated layer. Select "Group into New Smart Object." Right click on the layer again and select "Rasterize Layer."
21. In the Tools Window, select the paint tool. Select "Contiguous" in the paint tool options toolbar.
22. You've now got a grid you can use to make your pattern. Use the paint tool to fill in individual squares of the grid to make your pattern.
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