Patterns in designer

[Frankly]

Looking for tutorials on making half drop and half row repeat pattern tiles. I can find plenty of tutorials on making a basic square repeat, but I want to make more complex patterns using rectangles and offsets for half drop repeats and different variations of brick by row and column. Ideally, I would like to learn how to make patterns with offsets in both X and Y. Here is a test pattern using a method I know for making a half drop pattern, but I don't know how to crop a tile for this method.

[Michail]

On 1/2/2023 at 12:21 AM, Frankly said:

Looking for tutorials on making half drop and half row repeat pattern tiles. I can find plenty of tutorials on making a basic square repeat, but I want to make more complex patterns using rectangles and offsets for half drop repeats and different variations of brick by row and column. Ideally, I would like to learn how to make patterns with offsets in both X and Y. Here is a test pattern using a method I know for making a half drop pattern, but I don't know how to crop a tile for this method.

I cannot help with a tutorial. But I once made a pattern based on symbols a long time ago. You can explore the principle using my example. There are no limits to the complexity.

On the small ArtBoard you can find the single pattern. That's where you work.

Muster.afdesign

[BlueLiner]

I usually just stick to basic patterns but I have made a few half-drops. See below for a couple of good YouTube videos. If you are new to Affinity Designer, definitely also check out videos on using the Symbol feature.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5UJqL4PirE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4UaFSE9JKQ

I also found Umer's Business Click Channel on YouTube has some great Affinity Designer pattern tutorials:

https://www.youtube.com/@BusinessClick

[NotMyFault]

No tutorial, but an inspiration:

 

i had some fun creating complex patterns which are not square. Unfortunately Designer lacks specific tools (see below), and working with symbols is very tedious, some bugs hold you back. Avoiding seams at edges (anti-aliasing when exported rasterized) requires really careful planning, as there is zero support from Affinity apps and every alignment error kills you and will take ages to correct. 
 

my workflow requires to use compound shapes that cross rectangle bounding boxes, one side out, opposite side in. 
 

what i miss as specific tools:

• Tools to help creating tile edges not rectangular (but deliver seamless tiles either direct, mirrored, transformed, rotated etc)
• Snapping options for such non-rectangular tiles
• Symbols who allow to use non-rectangular tile shapes with snapping. Currently bounding box messes up those activities.
• having function like pattern layer for pixel layers to automatically repeat tiles with chosen distribution pattern (repeat, mirror, 2 axis, triangular, …)
• grid, axis, etc with origin in center of document instead left upper corner, important for triangular grids, to allow symmetry with ease
• symmetry tool for symbols 
• focus mode for tile patterns

[Frankly]

You're clearly more well versed in the technical aspects, but from what I do understand, I agree that pattern making could be much improved in these programs in general, not just designer. I've used other programs, and the pattern making tools in all of them have varying degrees of problems. I have yet to find a program that really makes complex patterns easy.