Artlandia SymmetryWorks is an Adobe Illustrator plug-in that instantly turns your artwork into a pattern by using the artwork as a motif. When you edit the motif, the plug-in automatically updates the entire pattern.
No, the plug-in makes all the necessary transformations (rotations, reflections, and so on) for you. The seventeen symmetry controls in the SymmetryWorks panel allow you to choose a type of pattern and convert between different types with a click of the mouse.
Yes, you can simply paste inside a SymmetryWorks pattern using the usual Illustrator Paste in Front and Paste in Back commands (or the corresponding keyboard shortcuts). You can also draw patterns in insertion mode.
Every SymmetryWorks pattern has a dedicated element, called the control path, that you can use to interactively change the repeat size of your patterns—without going through any intermediary dialog boxes.
Yes, SymmetryWorks lets you create a wide variety of counterchange patterns. There are buttons for all the 46 ways to combine symmetry operations with color reversals. Additionally, you can customize color reversals in repeated cells and tiles and introduce color reversals within the main repeated unit too.
Yes—just as easily as you can stack repeating units together as simple blocks. For an example of interlocking patterns, see tessellations.
From just about any Illustrator object. You can use simple paths, compound paths, clipping masks, brushes, gradients, transparencies, symbols, blends, mesh objects, all classes of type objects (point type, area type, and type on a path), and all types of imported raster (bitmap) images recognized by Illustrator (including Photoshop, TIFF, GIF, and JPEG images).
Good question! The differences are many, but the following are crucial:
Yes, the Save Pattern Swatch button in the SymmetryWorks panel adds your SymmetryWorks pattern to the Illustrator Swatches panel.
Yes, SymmetryWorks fully supports raster images. Use a part of the image or the entire image. Switch between separate and blended units of repetition with a single click. Or, if your image is relatively simple, convert it to vector art object using the Illustrator auto-trace tool.
Yes, your client will be able to see and print your SymmetryWorks patterns even without SymmetryWorks.
Of course. Illustrator has long been used as a quilting software when designers wanted flexibility and precision combined with convenient filters for creating geometric shapes. Now SymmetryWorks adds the ability to automatically create repeats, which makes the Illustrator/SymmetryWorks combination ideal for quilt designers.
Indeed, it was rather impractical in the past. But now SymmetryWorks provides you with the most sophisticated, easy-to-use, and inexpensive computer-aided textile design system (CAD). There are many built-in features specifically for textile designers. See our solution pages for more information.
Absolutely. SymmetryWorks has the built-in drop and brick repeats. You can easily make the half-drop, quarter-drop, and other fractional drop repeats. It is equally easy to create irregular (step or sliding) repeats with arbitrary drop values as well as all other repeats used in textile design.
The plug-in comes with a detailed user guide, which introduces all the built-in layouts and teaches you how to create your own repeat systems. Also, many pattern design terms are defined and illustrated in the Artlandia Glossary of Pattern Design. Specifically, here are the definitions and examples of "repeating patterns" and "seamless patterns".
If you use vector elements, your SymmetryWorks repeats will also be vector-based, so you can easily scale them without loss of quality. When needed, you can import repeats produced by SymmetryWorks into raster-based programs, such as Adobe Photoshop, at any resolution.
Yes, you can easily crop a SymmetryWorks pattern down to exactly one rectangular tile. Then simply export the file from Illustrator in, say, JPEG format. Click here for an example.
It is easy to create both traditional and original plaid and stripe designs. You can interactively change the color and position of stripes, add or delete stripes, and change one type of pattern to another with a single click. To start, make a few straight lines and try the symmetry types Mirror & glide, Pinwheel, and others in the SymmetryWorks panel. You will also find that the multi-replica feature makes it very easy to create check patterns.
Easily. Kaleidoscope is one of the available symmetry types.
SymmetryWorks makes sophisticated patterns and lets you create a pattern swatch. LivePresets lets you edit a pattern swatch and interactively apply the swatch to your artworks. The plug-ins are not substitutes for each other, but are very much complementary. Click here for a comparison chart.
LivePresets is tightly integrated with SymmetryWorks and lets you edit SymmetryWorks swatches as either expanded patterns or SymmetryWorks patterns.
SymmetryWorks LP is a combination of SymmetryWorks and LivePresets. You can run SymmetryWorks inside LivePresets swatches and interactively edit symbols with LivePresets inside SymmetryWorks patterns. With SymmetryWorks LP, you can even edit one SymmetryWorks pattern inside another. Click here to see how it works.
The shipping version of SymmetryWorks is fully compatible with Illustrator CS6 and Illustrator CC, including the latest releases of Creative Cloud. There is also a solution for earlier Illustrator versions from 10+.
You bet! Feel free to download a PDF file.
Yes, you can download the free demo version here.
Tips on the business of pattern design are here.
Take a look at the Artlandia Collection.
You may want to check our Photoshop plug-in for pattern design: Artlandia SymmetryShop. Click here for a comparison chart.
