How to Make a Background Tile That Repeats Cleanly
A repeating background fails the moment the eye catches the join.
What is the Seamless Tile Generator?
The dots pattern places matching dots at the tile corners and centre, and the stripes and checker patterns repeat on the tile grid, so the edges meet without a visible step when the tile is repeated. The tool reports the repeated canvas size for your repeat count. True seamlessness also depends on the artwork itself, so check the repeat at full size before using it as a background.
How to use it
- Pick a tile size and pattern
- Set how many times it repeats
- Preview the repeated tile and download it
Worked example
A 128-pixel dots tile repeated 3 by 3 gives a 384 by 384 canvas with 9 tiles and matching corner dots.
How do you test a tile?
Repeat it at least three times in each direction and look at the joins. If you cannot spot where one tile ends, it is working.
Frequently asked questions
What makes a tile seamless?
Its left edge must continue its right edge, and its top edge must continue its bottom edge, with no jump in the pattern.
Can any picture be tiled seamlessly?
No. A picture with a distinct object cut off at an edge will show a seam unless the artwork is designed for tiling.