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8/3/2019 Creating Spirograph Patterns
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Beginner Section
Creating Spirograph PatternsBeginner to Intermediate level
users
Quick Note:
nfortunately Photoshop's 'Rotate' function is very poor at
re-creating some types of shapesepeatedly, especially outlines,
after they've been rotated - a circle being the worst shape for it
to do
o, for our particular purpose here, we'll have to create a basic
shape manually first, then we'll rotatopies of that shape around to
create a more complex pattern. For creating basic patterns, i find
theollowing method produces the best looking results.
Create a New Document:
White Background / 400x400 (equal proportions) / 72dpi.
Creating a primary shape:
Create a New Layer. Name it 'circle 1'.
Draw a circular selection with the circular selection tool - and
hold down the Shift key at thsame time if you want a 'perfect'
circle. Make this selection shape a little less than half theheight
of the canvas area.
Stroke the selection: (EDIT/STROKE)
2 pixels / Center / leave the other settings as they are.Then
Deselect (Ctrl+D).
Center the shape on the canvas:
Press Ctrl+A, then while continuing to hold the Ctrl key down,
press X, then V.Now, press Ctrl+A (select All), then Ctrl+C (Copy),
then Ctrl+D (Deselect). This copies ou'centered' circle, which
we'll use to build a more complex pattern.
Readjusting the shapes position:
Use the Move tool and the up arrow key to put the shape slightly
above the center of thecanvas. Hold the Shift key down while
pressing the up arrow key 5 times.Make sure the shape isn't going
off the top of, and beyond the canvas.
Continued on the next page...
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8/3/2019 Creating Spirograph Patterns
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Beginner Section
Creating Spirograph Patterns(pg2)Beginner to Intermediate level
users
Continued frompage 1...
Creating a basic pattern:Create a New Layer. Name it 'circle
2'.Press Ctrl+V (Paste).Pick the Move tool, hold the Shift key
down, and press the right arrow key 5 times.
Repeat the above step 2 more times - naming the new layers
'circle 3' and 'circle 4'. Andmove 'circle 3' to the left, and
'circle 4' down.
You should then have a simple looking flower or clover
pattern.
Creating a more complex shape:
Turn off the Background layer (click the eye icon onthe left
side; see sample image), and then press Ctrl+Shift+E (Merge
Visible). This merges all of ourvisible circle layers into just 1
layer. Rename thislayer 'shapes 1'. Now click the 'eye' beside
theBackground layer to make it visible again.
Duplicate the 'shapes 1' layer.Open the 'Numeric' transform
function window (EDIT/Transform/Numeric...)
(PS6 Users: press Ctrl+T).In the 'Rotate' text box type '45'.
Press OK to apply the change.
We now have a more complex pattern.You can either stop here, or
continue to develop the pattern further.
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8/3/2019 Creating Spirograph Patterns
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Beginner Section
Creating Spirograph Patterns(pg3)Beginner to Intermediate level
users
Continued frompage 2...
A more complex pattern:Press Ctrl+E (Merge Down).Duplicate the
layer, and name it 'shapes 2'.Open the 'Numeric' transform function
window (EDIT/Transform/Numeric...)(PS6 Users: press Ctrl+T).
In the 'Rotate' text box type '22.5'. Press OK to apply the
change.
We now have a pattern much more complex than our previous
one.
Adding extra detail:
To finish off this pattern, i merged my 2 layers together and
duplicated the merged layer.
Then, i scaled the duplicate down until it fit into the middle
of my larger pattern's centerspace. A radial gradient filled sphere
was thrown in for good measure. ;?)
GURU TIPS:o make this pattern even more complex, you can merge
your shape layers together, duplicate the
ayer, and start over from step 4.
ry using other shape selections. The circle works well, but a
square can produce quite an interestiooking pattern also.
ry using an oval shape - taller than it is wide.
se a triangular shape, that should prove interesting!
ow about using solid colour filled shapes instead of outlines?
Could be useful right? Try it!
