B & W / Polka Dot / Check Pattern Swatches for Illustrator

B&W / Polka dot etc Illustrator swatches installation

The swatches do not have to be located in a particular folder though for ease of use they can be placed in the swatches folder of Illustrator

On the mac this is

HD: applications : adobe Illustrator CS5 : presets : en_us : swatches

On the PC, place the swatches (AI format files) into the program files folder for the same location.

If you are based in the US then the en_us is used, if UK then it might be en_uk (depends on the language settings)

Otherwise the check / polka dot / B& W designs can be found via the swatches palette in Illustrator via the right side menu open library command

How to use the patterns / gradients in Photoshop

You can't use the Illustrator gradient (or pattern swatch) as a gradient or pattern swatch in Photoshop, you can however use the design as a smart object (which is nearly as good). Smart objects are great as you can always double click the smart object and return to the original application (Illustrator) and you still have the ability to modify the gradient stops / Illustrator pattern swatch.

You can copy the pattern from Illustrator to Photoshop via the clipboard, either by applying the pattern to a path and then copying or using the pattern source swatch and copying that to Photoshop.

1) Open Illustrator document

2) window > swatches

3) Go to the swatches palette and right side menu

4) Open swatch library .. and select the 'other library' option

5) Select AI swatches file

You will now see the swatches library opened (this is read only). Selecting one of the swatches will add the swatch the current document's library and you will then, if you wish, be able to manipulate the swatch library

6) Go to the swatch library and select a swatch

7) Drag the swatch from the library to the Illustrator artboard

example of one of the black and white swatches in use in Illustrator

Double click the design if you wish to modify the pattern swatch such as add a new path to the design or re-color the design (in the case of many of these designs they are black and 'white')

8) edit > copy the swatch

9) Go to Photoshop

10) Paste as smart object in Photoshop (I prefer using smart objects as you can always change your mind and modify the design at a later point)

The swatches are vector designs so the pattern can be any size - not constrained by the original size set by the designer.

11) edit > define pattern

12) Use with the layer > new fill layer, pattern tool etc

example: Illustrator swatch exported to another application such as Photoshop and then scaled via the pattern fill command.

Re-coloring polka dot pattern swatches in Illustrator

1) window > swatches

2) swatches palette - right side menu and open swatch library > other library

3) Create a new path

4) Select a polka dot pattern design

5) Object > transform > scale (remove object check)

6) Set size - scale 1000% (depends on the size of the document and the size of the path)

7) Click OK

The original polka dot design (one of many of the designs found in the polka dot swatches sets)

example above showing blue polka dot designs being scaled in Illustrator

8) window > color guide

9) Click the edit color option at the bottom of the color guide

The color guide comes with many different color options such as 'randomly change color order' as well as setting harmony rules (triad, high contrast etc)

10) explore the color possibilities for the polka dot design in color guide

example showing the color guide in use with the polka dot swatches in Illustrator