Ever wanted to create a patterned background of your own? There’s nothing more unique than making one from scratch with your own creativity. With this short tutorial, I’ll show you how to make a pattern and then apply it to a background using Pixlr Pro. Let’s get started.
Launch Pixlr Pro on your browser. Go to File > New and type some square dimensions for your pattern.
Select a bluish color for your background.
Use the Paint Bucket Tool (G) to fill the background with your chosen color.
Take Custom Shape Tool (U) and select a star shape.
Set its Fill color to bright yellow.
Now hold Shift key and click-drag to draw a star. Draw a lot of them, trying to make their position random (so they shouldn’t be too close to each other, or form any accidental symbols).
To make the pattern seamless, place a half of one star outside of the canvas…
…then duplicate it (Control-J), and drag it holding Shift key to the other side of the canvas. Place the other half outside of the canvas.
If you want to rearrange the stars, you can do it quickly by holding Control key and clicking the star to select it.
To make the pattern more interesting, use the Custom Shape Tool again, this time with an empty star outline.
After you finish, select all the star layers by holding Shift key and group them (Control-G).
Double click the group to open Layer Style panel. Check Outer Glow.
Change the color to warm orange.
Change the settings to make the glow visible, yet subtle.
When you’re done, click OK. The pattern is now finished! To turn it into an actual pattern, go to Edit > Define New > Pattern.
Let’s create a patterned background now. Create a new file with different dimensions.
Double click the background to open Layer Style panel. Check Pattern Overlay.
Select your pattern from the list and adjust the Scale.
And that’s all! Now you know how to create your own pattern and a patterned background in Pixlr Pro.
