Tuesday September 02nd, 2008 | Design, Resource, Tools

498 Photoshop Background Patterns, and so much more



Patterns, patterns everywhere. Useful in all kinds of design projects from web page development, to logo design, repeating patterns offer tremendous coverage for large areas, flavor to smaller elements and character to any design medium.

I’ve collected 500 of my favorite & most frequently used background patterns in this post, along with a scores of background pattern resources including online generators, tutorials, articles and resource lists. Additionally I’ve outlined a bunch of other background pattern resources & repositories.

Hope you enjoy using it all, as much as I enjoyed collecting it all!

Striped Background Patterns

A favorite among designers these days, stripes can lend momentum & texture to an otherwise flat design. Ranging from high contrast to ghost striping, and from wide stripes to hairline strokes, striped patterns are as diverse as the design projects you handle. Below are a few of my favorite striped background patterns.

Textured Striped background patterns for Photoshop (6)

Candy Cane Stripe Photoshop patterns (47)

Josweb Striped Photoshop Patterns (14)

TipClique High Resolution Photoshop Patterns

While I tend to favor patterns as a less promnant element in my design, sometimes you just need a real eye catcher fill pattern. These high resolution background patterns from TipClique (cool site by the way) are just the ticket.

Not the kind of patterns you’ll be using in a majority of your design efforts, but when the time is right, these beautifully crafted patterns are a lot of fun.

TipClique Photoshop Pattern Set 1 (5)

TipClique Photoshop Pattern Set 2 (5)

TipClique Photoshop Pattern Set 3 (5)

Cute, Whimsical & Interesting Background Patterns

Sometimes you just want something sickeningly cute or a little ‘off the wall’ – that’s where these patterns come in. These are the kinds of patterns that are either absolutely perfect, or absolutely ridiculous depending on the project – but when I need whimsical, these are my pattern resources of choice.

Crazykira Cute Photoshop Patterns (25)

Punksafetypins Cute Background Patterns (15)

ashzstock Cute Photoshop Patterns (3)

ashzstock whimsical Photoshop patterns (3)

Raimyu Photoshop Patterns (20)

Shiranui Photoshop Patterns (28)

Vector Patterns (12)

Floral Background Patterns

While I’m not normally a huge fan of flowery design, floral patterns do sometimes come in handy from time to time. Below are some of my favorite floral patterns I’ve used in past projects and efforts.

OneThrityTwo Seamless Floral Background Patterns (6)

Floral Scrapbooking Patterns (10)

Black – White Patterns (13)

Toybird floral patterns for Photoshop (28)

Toybird floral patterns 2 for Photoshop (28)

Floral Photoshop Patterns No. 1 (35)

Dusty Floral background patterns (9)

Kflower floral background patterns (24)

Luvflare floral patterns (17)

Pixel Background Patterns

Wonderfully pixellated, these seamless background patterns can come in really handy on the right designs. Ranging from deceptively simple to deliciously complex, pixel patterns are a current favorite among many designers and below I’ve listed MY favorite pixel patterns.

Damask Pixel Patterns Volume 2 (15)

Micro Patterns (54)

Jussta Pixel Background Patterns (29)

Jussta Pixel Background Patterns 2 (29)

PinkGossip Pixel Background Patterns (13)

Other Photoshop & Background Pattern Repositories

When choosing a background pattern for your project, it’s important to know your options. Below are a 9 phenomenal resources for Photoshop background patterns and downloadable background pattern images. Wether you’re looking for a ready made pattern, or are preparing to design your own, these sites have yu covered with hundreds of background patterns available for download or inspirational browsing.

Squidfingers Background Patterns (158)

COLOURlovers (LOTS)
KollerMedia Patterns (272)
k10k Pixel Patterns (974)
Dromoscopio Background Patterns (33)
EverydayIcons Background Patterns (100+)
Citrusmoon Patterns (lots)
Brusheezy Patterns (38)
DINpattern Background Patterns (27)

Background Pattern Generators & Tutorials

Need some help creating that perfect background pattern? Below I’ve listed several online tools that make pattern generation a matter of a few clicks. Set your desired color set and a few parameters and download the seamless background tile.

In addition to the online generators I’ve included a few tutorials and pattern related articles for those who prefer the old school do-it-yourself methods.

Background Pattern Generators

Generator: Tartan Maker
Nice little web 2.0 app for creating Tarten (plaid) patterns.

~

Generator: Stripe Generator
One of the original online generators to make my favorites list, this little generator is pretty handy at generating striped background pattern tiles. Set stripe colors, angle, width, spacing and more!

~

Generator: Stripe Mania
Stripe Mania is a great looking interface for creating striped background patterns quick and easy!

~

Generator: Stripe Designer
Stripe Designer is a simple online striped background pattern generator.

~

Generator: BG Patterns
Create seamless backgrounds from vector shapes and images with this robust, yet simple to use background pattern generator.

Background Pattern Tutorials

Tutorial: Creating Tilable Patterns for Photoshop
A bit old, but still a great read – a step by step tutorial on creating tilable patterns in and for Photoshop.

Tutorial: HongKiat – Creating Custom Patterns
A bit newer and just as informative, HongKiat outlines how to create and set custom Photoshop patterns

Tutorial: PS Hero – Complex Repeatable Patterns
An excellent tutorial on creating seamless repeatable patterns using complex pattern elements.

Tutorial: Digital Arts Repeat Pattern Swatches in Illustrator
Nice 6 page tutorial on creating repeating pattern swatches in Illustrator.

Tutorial: Creating Tiled Background Patterns in Photoshop
Very simple one page tutorial on creating simple tiled patterns in Photoshop, excellent first timer tutorial.

GIMPer Bonus: 500 GIMP Background Patterns

A bonus for all of you poor GIMP users that usually get left out in such resource lists. I ran across this monster set of quality GIMP background patterns – 500 great looking patterns in total – Enjoy!!

GIMP Patterns 001-100

 GIMP Patterns 101-200

 GIMP Patterns 201-300
GIMP Patterns 301-400

 GIMP Patterns 401-500

Overview

I hope you find these resources as useful as I did, and get as much joy out of using them as I have in collecting and using them – and, as always, I look forward to your comments and feedback.

72 great comments so far, keep em coming! | rss


Thanks for reading.

Quick, add your comment!
Trackbacks are enabled.





«
»