Photoshop: Diagonal Line Pattern
Ever wondered how icon, layout, and banner makers get diagonal lines onto their finished images? Some graphics programs give you premade lines to work with. However, in Photoshop the user does not have premade lines to choose from. You, the user, must make these lines yourself. It's a simple little process that will add a nice touch to your icons, banners, and layouts when completed. In this tutorial you will learn how to make the popular 3x3 diagonal lines. These lines will be used in future tutorials so making them now will save you the step of making them during the tutorial. So without further ado let's begin making your first custom pattern for Photoshop the diagonal line.
1. Our first step will be to create a new image in Photoshop. We want our image to be 3 pixels wide by 3 pixels high and set it to transparent. (Settings you will use)
2. Now that you have your new image created it's time to create the pattern you will use. As you can see that image is quite small. To help us better create that pattern we're going to zoom in on our image until it's at 1600%. (Image at 1600%)
3. With the image at 1600% we can now create our line to do this we will go over to our tools and select the pencil tool. The pencil tool is located along with the paintbrush tool. Click on the little triangle in the bottom corner of the paintbrush tool and then select the pencil tool. (Pencil Tool)
4. We want to create a black line to use in our pattern. The easiest way to get a black color is to hit Shift + D to reset our foreground and background colors to black and white.
5. Now that we have our pencil tool selected change the size of the pencil point to one pixel. With the pencil at one pixel in size go to the upper right corner of your image and place a one pixel dot on your image. With the image zoomed in at 1600% you can see a square shaped pencil point that will fit perfectly in your image. (One pixel point)
6. Place another pixel point going towards the bottom left corner of your image and repeat this process until you have a diagonal line of three one pixel pencil points.
7. Now that you have your diagonal line created you'll need to make it a custom pattern. To do this go edit> define pattern. (Define Pattern)
8. A pop-up box will then appear where you will name your pattern for ease of remembering our pattern we'll give it the name of "Diagonal 3x3". (Patten Name)
9. Use and enjoy your first custom pattern!
Now you have a 3x3 diagonal line pattern to use in your graphics. If you want your lines to go in the oposite direction repeat the process except we start in the upper left corner when we reach step 5. If you'd like white lines instead of black set your foreground color to white. This same process can be used to create lines that are further apart in space. Just remember to keep your image a transparent square. The size of your square will tell you how many one pixel dots your line will be. A 5x5 square will be five pixels long.
1. Our first step will be to create a new image in Photoshop. We want our image to be 3 pixels wide by 3 pixels high and set it to transparent. (Settings you will use)
2. Now that you have your new image created it's time to create the pattern you will use. As you can see that image is quite small. To help us better create that pattern we're going to zoom in on our image until it's at 1600%. (Image at 1600%)
3. With the image at 1600% we can now create our line to do this we will go over to our tools and select the pencil tool. The pencil tool is located along with the paintbrush tool. Click on the little triangle in the bottom corner of the paintbrush tool and then select the pencil tool. (Pencil Tool)
4. We want to create a black line to use in our pattern. The easiest way to get a black color is to hit Shift + D to reset our foreground and background colors to black and white.
5. Now that we have our pencil tool selected change the size of the pencil point to one pixel. With the pencil at one pixel in size go to the upper right corner of your image and place a one pixel dot on your image. With the image zoomed in at 1600% you can see a square shaped pencil point that will fit perfectly in your image. (One pixel point)
6. Place another pixel point going towards the bottom left corner of your image and repeat this process until you have a diagonal line of three one pixel pencil points.
7. Now that you have your diagonal line created you'll need to make it a custom pattern. To do this go edit> define pattern. (Define Pattern)
8. A pop-up box will then appear where you will name your pattern for ease of remembering our pattern we'll give it the name of "Diagonal 3x3". (Patten Name)
9. Use and enjoy your first custom pattern!
Now you have a 3x3 diagonal line pattern to use in your graphics. If you want your lines to go in the oposite direction repeat the process except we start in the upper left corner when we reach step 5. If you'd like white lines instead of black set your foreground color to white. This same process can be used to create lines that are further apart in space. Just remember to keep your image a transparent square. The size of your square will tell you how many one pixel dots your line will be. A 5x5 square will be five pixels long.