Draw Patterns

Whether you are creating a new pattern or editing an existing one, the drawing procedures are the same.

Pattern Origin

First, note that the origin of each pattern block is the lower-left corner of the editing area. You should start your design in this corner and build it upward and to the right from there. This will prevent a large amount of white space to occur between repeating pattern cells.

Drawing Items

Use the toolbar at the top of the Pattern Editor to draw your shapes:

To draw an item:

1. Click on its toolbar button to activate that tool.
   
2. Check the Snap option (lower-right) if you want the vertices of the item to be snapped to the design grid. Uncheck the Snap box if you do not want the item to be snapped to the design grid, such as if you want to draw small items.
   
3. Position your mouse pointer in the design grid, and click the left mouse button to insert the item.
   
4. Hold down the mouse button and drag up, down, or to the side, to dimension the item.
   • For circles/ellipses and rectangles/squares, release the mouse button when it is the desired size. Use very small circles or squares for dots.
   • For polylines, keep dragging and clicking to draw the polyline vertices.
   • For polygons, keep dragging and clicking to draw the polygon vertices.
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To erase an item:

1. Click on the Selection tool.
   
2. Click on the individual item to be deleted to select it. Press the Delete key on your keyboard.
   • To delete multiple items, hold down the Shift key while you use the Selection tool to select multiple items, then press the Delete key. You can also use the Selection tool to draw a selection "rubber band" around the items to be selected.

To modify an item:

1. Click on the Selection tool.
   
2. Click on the item to select it.
   • Click on a handle and drag to make the item larger or smaller.
   • Right-click on the item and choose Options to access other settings.

Back to Editing Patterns Introduction

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