From Ideation to Printed Fabric | My 6 Step Process

I've had lots of people ask for this, so here it is. My process from Ideation through to the final licensed printed fabric. I take you through every step including coming up with ideas, sketching and colouring motifs in Procreate, composing the pattern in Photoshop and the final pattern collection.
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🍿 WATCH NEXT:
1. How to use the Pattern Preview Tool in Photoshop: • Learn to Unlock the Ma...
2. Create a Half-Drop Repeat Pattern in Photoshop: • Mastering Half-drop Re...
3. Repeat Patterns in Procreate: • Learn the Secret to Ma...
🔗 LINKS MENTIONED:
- My Texture Brush Pack: bit.ly/tbp-gumroad
- Melco Fabrics: www.melcofabrics.com.au/colle... - no longer available via Melco.
- Unsplash: unsplash.com/
MY ONLINE COURSES
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WHO AM I?
If we haven’t yet before - Hey 👋 I’m Mel, an Illustrator & Surface Pattern Designer from Wellington New Zealand. Through my videos here on this channel, my Skillshare classes and my Learn with Mel community, I share tutorials, guidance and inspiration to help you create your own creative career and build a life you love.
⏰ Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction
01:25 - Ideation (Notion)
03:10 - Sketching (Procreate)
04:12 - Colour (Procreate)
05:43 - Preparing Motifs (Photoshop)
06:07 - Pattern Composition (Photoshop)
13:26 - Pattern Collection (Photoshop)
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[@olgamstelveen]

I looove the little details, thank you for sharing ❤

[@sophiegeorgina1108]

This is so awesome. I’m studying textile design in September and I’m so excited!

[@MelArmstrong]

Good luck!! Thanks for watching!

[@leonatsiara]

Great tutorial! Thank you for sharing!💙😊✨

[@MelArmstrong]

You are so welcome!

[@sherylpiche2269]

Thanks! I enjoyed your journey!

[@LillyHope11]

Fab tutorial, thank you for sharing ❤

[@MelArmstrong]

Thanks so much 😊

[@jaspalette]

so helpful!!And also super fun, thanks for sharing your lovely process

[@MelArmstrong]

You are so welcome! I'm so glad it was helpful.

[@iabram8993]

Really excellent video, Thank you 👏🏻

[@MelArmstrong]

You're very welcome!

[@lovelybillydesigns]

Very informative, enjoyed seeing your process. Thanks for sharing 🤩

[@MelArmstrong]

Thanks for watching!

[@JananiNagaraj97]

Your collections are 😻

[@MelArmstrong]

Thank you!! 😊

[@sanjaynakate4955]

Great ,Thanks for posting

[@MelArmstrong]

You're very welcome!

[@Ann-lj4nn]

Such a lovely little video! I would love to see your coloring process for these motifs.they turned out so beautiful!

[@MelArmstrong]

Thank you! Yes, I hope to do that in a future video.

[@sherikowalski915]

Love this summary Mel! I've been following you for a while on Skillshare and taken some of your courses. I love that you talk about going from Procreate to Photoshop. I was really lost by myself here because of how you lose quality when transforming in Procreate, so it's nice to see how you go into Photoshop and create smart objects. Plus that pattern tool in Photoshop is quite nice. Now I need to just get over the hardest part of all, designing all my motifs! Still struggling with finding my style, but I hope to get there someday! Thanks for the great video! I had a few "aha" moments where things really clicked.

[@MelArmstrong]

Thank you! It took me years to find my style and even now it still evolves. Stick with it and enjoy the process!

[@jasminlatifa5516]

Love this workflow🩷

[@MelArmstrong]

Thank you!

[@VickiStearn]

Thank you very much!!!

[@MelArmstrong]

You're welcome!

[@kimsfusionart]

Wonderful and so nice to hear the accent again and love the way you don't speed through everything. I might have to give this a go. I'm an artist that's just changed over to digital painting so this could be a thing. Thank you for the lovely instructions.

[@MelArmstrong]

Ohhhh...thanks! Some find my accent weird and I have an a few weird comments about it, so it's nice to get a lovely comment. You can also mix your traditional art with digital. I love doing this.

[@kimsfusionart]

I'm a Kiwi living in Australia so miss it terribly but I do get to teach my grandbabies how to speak properly lol @@MelArmstrong

[@kimsfusionart]

oh also love the ideation process, I have a whole series of digital collage with a character I have in different situations, so this has given me so much to think about in breaking down the elements and creating different patterns around the elements and existing story. Not something I thought I would do but I can really see it working and most of the work is already done. I use Inkscape for those and Rebelle 6 for my painting dont have flash as Photoshop though lol but do have Photoscape. @@MelArmstrong

[@BlueNabi-je9fu]

thank you very much :)

[@MelArmstrong]

You're welcome!

[@MalkovaTanya]

Какая красивая ткань 😍😍😍😍😍😍❤❤❤❤❤

[@honeymirouwi]

hello thank you so much for this video, it really helps me a lot. May I ask, what format do you use to send the pattern to the printing? and do you have video that discuss about that? thank you so much, sorry for my bad english

[@evaemerald5801]

Thank you for such a cool tutorial, it really covers all the steps and shows professional approach to the patterns.

[@MelArmstrong]

Oh...thanks so much for your lovely comment.

[@Cjjjj902]

I was excited to download your texture pack but then seeing it was only for Procreate :( if you ever release a pack for Photoshop I'll be the first one there!

[@MelArmstrong]

Ohhh....absolutely. I'll put it on my list of things to do, so keep an eye out!

[@Coastalferrets]

⁠do you have any videos or suggestions on making patterns just in procreate for printing on fabric and clothing? I have learned on how to make it seamless and repeating but i’m unsure if i need to do anything else to make sure it is going to be okay to print on fabric! thanks in advance! new to this! I’ve heard to make it at least 300 DPI but do i need to do anything else for making it print ready once it’s seamless?

[@antoniatro]

Helpful and fun to watch. Thank you, Mel! I'm also currently in the middle of setting up my Notion database with the help of your Skillshare class - awesome class with so many useful tips and shortcuts.

[@MelArmstrong]

Oh yay! I love Notion and can’t wait to get the next class out! Thanks for watching!

[@eliudegmdialamicua6169]

❤

[@priscilasaraiva1238]

Awesome video!!! Thank you for sharing your workflow. Which iPad/storage you recommend for print design?

[@MelArmstrong]

Thank you! I recommend an iPad Pro with as much storage as you can afford.

[@priscilasaraiva1238]

Awesome, thank you!

[@ShaiannMerriman]

I loved this video! It's so helpful. I do have one question though! When it comes to printing on fabric...so the background color is printed as well? That seems like a lot of ink so I didn't know if clients would feel turned off by the idea of a pattern that comes with a background color. I wasn't quite sure if surface pattern artists were adding the intended color in the portfolio photo, but sending a file with a transparent background.

[@MelArmstrong]

Thank you! To answer your question, with today's digital printing technology it really doesn't matter the amount of colours or textures you have. I've never had any issue with clients or manufacturers. They only time I've had to adjust is for different fabrics, some of which don't pick up some of my texture work, so I have to modify slightly.

[@minhanhh00]

Your instructions are extremely detailed, I'm very grateful. But I have a question, you use the RGB color system, when printing, aren't you afraid that the colors will be distorted?

[@MelArmstrong]

I use CMYK if printing in general. With fabric, I also typically use Pantone colours from TCX book to ensure the colours are matched well. I will also convert them if I originally created them in RGB. Hope that answers your question. Thanks for watching! ☺

[@minhanhh00]

@@MelArmstrong Thanks for sharing. This is quite new to me

[@user-xe2cm9kc7x]

Should I draw everything from scratch or can i get online units and create my own design?

[@lonelys4784]

Dear, this is so helpful and so satisfying. Can we export the sketches to Illustrator instead of photoshop? is there any difference in the quality? thanks.

[@MelArmstrong]

Yes you can! Although you’ll end up with a different look when image tracing in Illustrator. I prefer Photoshop for textured work.

[@vanessamacleod1]

Thank you for all your content and videos! So helpful! I was curious if you’ve had experience with Spoonflower. I was thinking of doing some patterns through them, but they have a required dpi of 150 for their patterns. My default is always 300 as well, and that is throwing me off a bit. Do you think it is still safe to design the pattern in 300 and then convert it to 150 once in Spoonflower? Thanks again!

[@MelArmstrong]

Yes absolutely. I always upload a 300dpi pattern. Spoonflower will convert it to 150.

[@vanessamacleod1]

@@MelArmstrong thank you so much for your reply! 😊

[@Haani77]

Hey mel. I hope you are doing well. I love your work and teaching method I really enjoy your videos. I have a question actually I am confused about this point. There is a difference between seamless repeat pattern and just repeat pattern . And if we just make a repeat or half drop repeat and scale it bigger or smaller after that upload on spoonflower it looks good on some products. But some of products not looks good because pattern is just repeat not seamless repeat. So that is necessary to upload everytime just seamless pattern? Or if we upload just repeat pattern then what should we do that it's not looks good on products (i mean it shows tile edges in pattern) I know I am bit confuse. But I hope you will answer my question. Will be really happy

[@MelArmstrong]

So I would refer to just a repeat pattern as 1 single motif or a small collection of motifs repeated in either a standard block repeat or half-drop in which you can clearly see the repeat. I refer to a seamless repeat as a repeat that hides the repeating line. Basically, you can't see where it repeats. These can also be a standard block repeat, half-drop, or any other kind of repeat, but they are generally more busy than simple repeats, which helps to hide the repeat. I hope that makes sense? I will mostly only upload a seamless repeat to Spoonflower and I don't use their repeat type option that you can select (half-drop etc) as I've already created that in Photoshop. I really hope that helps answer your questions? Let me know if you need more help.

[@christinhebron4184]

Mel, is the size of 3000px at 300dpi only for fabric? I have heard from others doing 600dpi and also creating really big files. Is this necessary? Also, for your background, do you need to make it a repeat in procreate before exporting to PS?

[@MelArmstrong]

It really depends. If I don't know who I'm designing for, then I'll always do 3000px at 300dpi. But if I'm working for a client who have asked for 600dpi, then I'll design to that specification. 300dpi is my default. I didn't turn the background into a repeat until I got it inside Photoshop. You can see that at around the 9:39 mark. You just need to offset then remove the lines using the Spot Healing Brush. This tutorial explains it further: kzbin.info/www/bejne/poGupqCnpbRmkNU

[@aarathypreenesh6902]

Hi would like to have the details of your pattern design course

[@MelArmstrong]

Thanks for your interest in my course. Here is the link with all the information: learn.melarmstrong.com/art-and-joy-of-surface-pattern-design

[@jokesalamidesigns]

So you have to have both procreate and photoshop at all times to make repeat patterns?

[@MelArmstrong]

No not at all. This is just the way I like to do it. You can create patterns just in Procreate or just in photoshop. Or any other similar program. I have lots of tutorials on creating patterns in Procreate on my channel.

[@jokesalamidesigns]

@@MelArmstrong Thanks for your prompt response

[@Coastalferrets]

@@MelArmstrongdo you have any videos or suggestions on making patterns just in procreate for printing on fabric and clothing? I have learned on how to make it seamless and repeating but i’m unsure if i need to do anything else to make sure it is going to be okay to print on fabric! thanks in advance! new to this! I’ve heard to make it at least 300 DPI but do i need to do anything else for making it print ready once it’s seamless?

[@suaraalam7796]

you got one subscriber from indonesia anyways... ☕️ great job... 🎉

[@MelArmstrong]

Thank you!

[@kc16826]

I only have Adobe Illustrator, is it possible to do the pattern adjusting all at once like that in Illustrator? It would be life changing!!!

[@MelArmstrong]

Illustrator has a pattern tool which allows you to adjust the pattern as you work. It's very handy.

[@kc16826]

@@MelArmstrong I will have to key looking for that. I just adjust, remake the pattern, adjust and so on.

[@anandmohapatra5739]

what kind of printing do you do ?

[@MelArmstrong]

This design was licensed to a fabric manufacturer and printed using their fabric printers. You can print your own fabric using the online shop Spoonflower.

[@miriamtalavera5015]

What type of company did you send the sale sheet to? Fabric manufacturer/distributor?

[@MelArmstrong]

This one was sent to a fabric manufacturer/distributor based in New Zealand and U.K.

[@toobasheikh7472]

App name please anyone tell me

[@MelArmstrong]

I use Procreate app on the iPad, then Photoshop on my computer.

[@mwsugg]

This really is a photoshop tutorial and not a procreate tutorial.

[@MelArmstrong]

I’m not sure I understand your comment. This isn’t meant to be a procreate tutorial. It’s just demonstrating my process which includes procreate and photoshop. I do have lots of procreate specific tutorials on my channel if you’d like to check them out. 😊

[@ArtByKarenEHaley]

Where does it say it's specifically a procreate tutorial

[@NN-fz4pd]

I like the concept of this video but you sound very monotone and unnatural like you’re reading a textbook. Try to just speak like you’re speaking to a friend. The way Chris piascik does (another illustrator)

[@MelArmstrong]

Thanks for your comment. I have a kiwi accent and to be honest that's just they way I sound. I don't want to emulate someone else, even though I love Chris's videos, but I will definitely try to be 'less' monotone next time. :-)

[@docgallery]

I disagree, mel’s voice is rather soothing and pleasing to listen to. Dont change for anyone

[@dabelar4824]

What a comment to make! I totally disagree. I love Mel's accent and soothing voice.

[@ellenodonohue4511]

Your instructions are always so helpful. Thank you.