Make a repeating pattern in Photoshop

The Cassini Pattern extension is an addition to Pixel Bender that you can use to create a repeating pattern in Photoshop. Its geometry is based on the Cassini Oval, named after the 17th Century astronomer Giovanni Cassini.

By altering the filter settings, you can produce a range of different patterns Photoshop from a single image. The filter works inside Pixel Bender that is available for Photoshop CS4 and CS5, but not earlier versions.

How to make a repeating pattern in Photoshop

Step 1: Install the filter
Download the Cassini Pattern extension. You’ll need to have already installed the Pixel Bender plug-in for Photoshop CS4 or CS5. You must install the correct version of Pixel Bender for your version of Photoshop.

Next, open your start image. Here we unzipped our file ‘cassini.zip’ and copied the cassini.pbk file to our Pixel Bender Files folder.

Step 2: Size the image
Open the image ‘cassini_before.jpg’ in Photoshop and resize it by choosing Image>Image Size. Check the Constrain Proportions checkbox, set the Width to 2000 pixels, note the Height value and click OK. Choose Filter>Pixel Bender>Pixel Bender Gallery and from the list, choose Cassini.

Step 3: Set up the filter
Set the imageWH values to the image Width and Height. We set ours to 2000 and 1339. Use the poi adjusters to change the image. poi[0] changes the rotation of the shapes and poi[1] changes the vertical height of the entire pattern, either stretching or squeezing it. The Lambda adjustment adjusts the rotation of the shapes in the pattern.

Step 4: Fine-tune the filter
Most Pixel Bender filters work best when you set imageWH to the actual image dimensions but it is also possible to find other patterns using different values for Width and Height. Use zoom to move in or out to create a smaller or larger repeating pattern. Click OK when you are done. Our final settings, top to bottom are 1600, 1890, 500, 460, 5, 1.5.

Top Photoshop Tip: Install your Pixel Bender

To install Pixel Bender, close Photoshop and run the Adobe Extension Manager. On Windows Vista and Windows 7, right-click the Extension Manager and choose Run As Administrator. Choose File>Install Extension and install the downloaded .mxp file. Pixel Bender doesn’t run on Photoshop CS3 or earlier. Depending on where your Photoshop program files are installed, place start image in the new Pixel Bender Files folder at c:\Program Files (or Program Files (x86))\Adobe\Photoshop folder.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 6th, 2012 at 7:00 am and is filed under Tutorials. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a comment. Pinging is currently not allowed.