The samples in the slideshow below show 15 of the 17 symmetry groups, where you can export a rectangular tile. Below this gallery, I will explain how to use this tile in Photoshop to create large scale files for canvas or paper prints.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Filling a large surface with your KaleidoPaint tile using Photoshop. 

This is a quick method of plane filling. A plane, as in a large two dimensional surface, like one that you would use to create the file for a high quality print, where you need a high pixel resolution.

• Export the tile from you KaleidoPaint drawing using the new menu option. Only 15 of the 17 symmetry groups can be tiled in a perfectly square group.

• Go to your photos folder and email that tile to yourself.
• Open the tile in Photoshop. Note the tile’s dimensions in pixel width and height. Here 1906×1100.
• Decide how large a canvas you want, possibly in multiples of your tile’s dimension. 300 dpi is a good resolution for large paper prints. Let’s choose 6000 x 4000 pixels for our file.

• Place the first tile in the upper left, flush top and side
• CTRL/CMD-J is the key combination to duplicate the layer
• Select this layer then pull up the offset filter, way at the bottom of the list under “other”
• For the first operation, do the horizontal repeats, the slide number should be the width of your tile, 1906 pixels for our example, the vertical will stay at zero for now
• 

 

• Apply the filter. The offset filter moves this layer the exact number of pixels you’ve entered
• CTRL/CMD-J again to duplicate this new shifted tile layer
• Repeat the filter on the new layer and continue till you reach the other edge (latest filter shows up at the top) The operation becomes a dance of CTRL-J then CTRL-F till you reach the right edge of your canvas.
• Select this series of layers and merge them

• Duplicate this strip of tiles
• Go to the full offset menu, not the shortcut key, horizontal should be zero, vertical should be 1100, the height of the tile

• Apply the offset filter, duplicate the layer and repeat the filter, till you reach the bottom, again, dancing with your shortcut keys, CTRL-J then CTRL-F.

• Flatten the image and you’re done!
• The other two radical symmetry groups that do not conform to this exact method of tiling are P1 and P2. They will give you a rectangle as well, but in order to line up the design, you must figure out the horizontal offset to the tile.

---

If you’re a “Learn by Seeing” “Learn by Doing” kind of person, I’ve started creating videos on “how-to” create tessellations. I’ll be covering each of the 17 symmetry groups, one class at a time. And like all artists, we need to make a living. So. I’ve uploaded these to the Skillshare platform. I’ll get paid by minutes watched.

You can take the classes for free. Skillshare offers anywhere from 2 weeks to a month for free if you sign up, even temporarily.

You can register for just a month and cancel anytime. It’s less than the cost of a Netflix subscription! And you can still stay put on the couch. There are over 40,000 classes on topics for creative persons just like you. Join my mailing list, either here on my blog (in the sidebar), or a at this link for a specific list I use to announce new classes.

I’d love for you to join me on this wonderful learning adventure.

If you prefer, you can follow my progress on social media, I always announce my new class:
Facebook: Franc Champagne, and Vancouver Island Tessellation Artist
Instagram: champagne.francine
Twitter: FChampagne1
Linkedin: Graphic Design, PowerPoint and tessellations
Youtube: Video animations and class intros

My classes have received an independent rating of 9.7/10, placing these Skillshare classes in the TOP 2% of classes reviewed by CourseMarks!

🙂

Here is a list of the classes up so far:

1. Rekindle your Love of M.C. Escher Tessellations, draw your own tessellations using a free iPad App. In this class I introduce the concept of tessellations, show you the work of M.C. Escher as well as other artists. Then we dive into a first symmetry method, P4g, accomplished by drawing only one line to create the perimeter of your tessellation.
2. Just like M. C. Escher’s Tessellations: Draw Using a New Symmetry Method and Your iPad. We tackle the Mirrored Triplets symmetry group, aka P3m1.
3. This UP/DOWN, LEFT/RIGHT Tessellation method was M. C. Escher’s favorite. It is also the symmetry method, P1, most taught in schools. Probably the only way most artists have tried to accomplish a nested shape. We will push it a tad farther, but also easier than scissors and cardboard.
4. M. C. Escher Tessellations: The Three Cozy Buddies Symmetry Group, know as symmetry group P3. Lots of examples, from many different tessellation artists. One of my favorite ways of creating tessellations.
5. Digital Patterns: Super Simple Quickie Patterns. 20 patterns in 30 minutes! I will show you how to draw and assemble your pattern design elements in four different and unusual ways. Come explore the possibilities, from a different point of view using your iPad and the free KaleidoPaint app. There is more to symmetry than rigid repeats, half-drops and tossed layouts.
6. My next class with deal with a symmetry group I have named: “This way — that way”, aka crystallographic notation Pg. That Koloman Moser video above, is part of the series.

---