Making a pattern from part of an Illustrator file 1

[Lyell]

I'm just learning Illustrator. I've been trying to figure out how I can make a pattern using just part of an Illustrator file, with no success. I've tried the various pathfinder tools but none of them seems to do what I want. And I've tried masking the part of the picture I don't want, but when I make a pattern, it seems to include the masked area as well in the pattern.

Part of my problem is that I don't yet know what is possible and what is not. Can I make a pattern from just part of an illustration, and how?

(I'm using Illustrator CS3 on a Windows XP machine.)

 

[apepp]

...with patterns it helps to have a rectangle, no fill and no stroke, sat underneath the objects you need as a pattern (object > send to back), illustrator then calculates the pattern within that rectangle...

Andrew

 

[apepp]

...do also be aware that the documents origin point dictates pattern position...

...for example when you drag out the rulers to set a new x axis of zero and a y axis of zero, by way of the top left of your documents window. There you'll see a white area between the rulers, click and drag out to move the documents origin point, you'll then see all your patterns move...

Andrew

 

[apepp]

...also with patterns you might see faint joins, hairline gaps, this is purely a screen render issue, anti-aliasing...

...you can turn anti-aliasing off in the preferences to check all is OK if you have doubts about your patterns, if you still see gaps then it is highly likely the pattern is incorrect...

Andrew

 

[Lyell]

...with patterns it helps to have a rectangle, no fill and no stroke, sat underneath the objects you need as a pattern..."

That did the trick, apepp -- worked perfectly!

Regards,
Lyell

P.S. I've made a habit of setting the upper left corner to 0,0 anyway -- my mind doesn't seem to work any other way. Are there any times when this wouldn't be a good idea?

 

[apepp]

...yes, i also set top left to 0,0...

...times i have changed are when copying and objects to another document or area, for example. like this movie i knocked together a while back for another question posed by a user:

http://www.zen63258.zen.co.uk/tek/X+Y.mov

Andrew

 

[Lyell]

Great tip on resetting the x/y coordinates -- that serendipitously will simplify another project that I've been working on. Thanks so much again.

Regards,
Lyell