Projects posted to the project gallery can range from step-by-step examples of using one of the 10 tips, or share your final work and mention how you used one ore more of the tips in executing your project. These tips are designed to work with all kinds of projects, so don’t feel limited by the examples presented in the video lessons.

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1. Creating a pattern stroke begins with creating shapes that will create a seamless repeating pattern. In this case, the spade symbol has been split in half so that when the pattern repeats, it creates a seamless appearance. There are plenty of ways to create this seamless look, including using full shapes with consistent spacing. Pro Tip: utilize guidelines and transparent boxes to fine tune your spacing. In some cases, including transparent shapes will act as the necessary spacers to create even repetition. If you’d like to make changes, you can always return to this step to make adjustments.

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2. Create a new brush from the drop down menu in the upper-right corner of the Brushes palette. The brushes palette can be opened via the “Window” dropdown menu or by simply click F5.

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3. Select “Pattern Brush” to turn your shape into a repeating pattern that can be placed onto a path.

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4. Experiment with the Pattern Brush options to see which variables work best for your project and your desired appearance. In this example, we prefer to have “Hue Shift” selected in the “Method” dropdown menu so that we’ll be able to adjust the color of our stroke on the fly, after it’s been created.

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5. These are three examples of the completed pattern stroke, each using a different stroke weight and color to show quick ways to adjust the pattern as you integrate it into your work.

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6. The brush palette shows all of the pattern brushes we created for our deck of Red Wheel Playing Cards  as well as the original shapes that were used to created each pattern brush. As you can see, experimenting with various shapes at the outset will yield a variety of different pattern styles.

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7. Here’s a look at several of those patterns applied to a circular design. We encourage you to explore different ways of applying your pattern strokes to your project in addition to the examples presented here.