Seamless Repeating Shapes with Repeat Grid
This short tip shows Illustrator’s Repeat Grid, an alternative to the Pattern tool for making repeating layouts. The repeats are live instances of one object, so they stay vector and editing the original updates every copy. If you have used Repeat Grid in Adobe XD, it works the same way.
Steps
- Select an object and go to Object > Repeat > Grid. Illustrator fills a grid with instances.
- Drag the grid handles to cover the artboard, and align the grid to the top-left of the artboard.
- Adjust spacing by dragging the horizontal and vertical spacing handles, or type exact values (for example 50 px) in the Properties panel.
- Change the grid type to one of the brick options so alternate rows or columns are offset.
- Use the flip options to mirror alternate rows or columns horizontally or vertically for more variety.
- Double-click any instance to edit the source object; stretch it, recolour it or add new objects, and the whole grid follows.
Why use it
Repeat Grid is quick for backgrounds, textures and layouts where you want to keep tweaking the shape after laying it out. When you need a true pattern swatch to fill other shapes, use Object > Pattern > Make instead.
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