How to Make a Tessellation in Photoshop
- 1). Start Photoshop. Click the "File" menu. Click "New." Enter "Tessellation" into the "Name" box. Enter dimensions into the "Width" and "Height" boxes, such as "10" and "3" respectively. Click "Inches" in the two drop-down menus; click the "OK" button.
- 2). Click the "New Layer" icon at the bottom of the "Layers" palette on the right side of the screen. A new Layer 1 is added to the palette.
- 3). Right-click the icon of a gray star, gray circle, gray square or gray line in the "Tools" pane. Choose "Custom Shape Tool" from the fly-out menu.
- 4). Pull down the "Shape" menu on the toolbar at the top of the screen. Choose the main tessellation component, such as an octagon or triangle.
- 5). Position the cursor on the left side of the canvas. Click and drag to form the first tessellation shape.
- 6). Right-click Layer 1 in the "Layers" palette. Click "Duplicate Layer" and select "OK." You can't see the Layer 1 copy because it is hidden behind the first. Click the "Edit" menu, select "Transform" and click "Flip Vertical." Click the "Move" tool, at the top of the "Tools" pane, and drag the new shape layer until it is directly even with the first, starting the row of the tessellation. For example, if you chose triangle, the two angles of the triangle --- one point up, one point down --- would be side to side.
- 7). Repeat the "Duplicate Layer" process on the "Layers" palette, flipping the shape vertically each time, until you work your way across left to right on the canvas.
- 8). Repeat the "Duplicate Layer" process to add a second row below the first, with the same vertical flipping.
- 9). Right-click any layer in the "Layers" palette and select "Flatten Image." Once all of the layers flatten into a single layer, click the "File" menu and click "Save."
