20 Free Vector Patterns, Volume 2

17

A couple of weeks ago I posted 20 free vector patterns that I had made (you can see them here) and the response was so positive that I decided to make another 20 available in this 2nd volume. This time, I’m focusing on straight lines: radial lines, horizontal lines, vertical lines… all sorts of line patterns that would be difficult or time-consuming to create on your own.

The small patterns below are just “thumbnails” of the patterns. Each pattern file is a PDF file big enough to cover either an A4 or Letter sized page. (Of course, because they’re vector, you can scale them up or down as much as you want and they’ll still be high-quality.) You can Place the PDF files in InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, or almost any other program. You can also open each PDF in Illustrator, allowing you to go in and tweak the lines to your heart’s content.

Some Examples

Just like I published last time, here are a few examples of how you might use these patterns. These first three show some of these patterns placed into InDesign frames:

Next, this line pattern was opened in Illustrator and individual objects were colorized:

 

Downloads

As I said, each of these patterns is a full page. The graphics below are just samples cut from the middle of the pattern. Just click on each image to download its PDF and see the whole page. Or you may want to right-click on the image and choose Save As (or Save Link As, depending on your web browser).

(Note that two of these — numbers 12 and 13 — are actually horizontal lines, but I had to rotate them because of the wide dimensions of the thumbnail image.)

Triangle Pattern 1

Tessellation 1

Squares and Crosses 2

Squares and Crosses 1

Random Lines 1

Polygon Rotation 1

Sprinkles 1

Spiral 1

Spiral 2

Spiral 3

Random Triangles

Polygon Rotation 2

Polygon Rotation 3

Polygon Rotation 4

Polygon Rotation 5

Polygon Rotation 6

Polygon Rotation 7

Grid Circles 1

Grid Circles 2

Concentric Circles 1

 

How Were They Made?

Several of these were built using an InDesign plug-in called PatternMaker, from Teacup Software. Most others were written in custom PostScript. (My wife probably think I’m crazy, as I would wake up and sit coding instead of reading the newspaper.) The fun thing about PostScript code is that it that it converts beautifully into EPS and PDF, and is very compact. For example, some of the PDF files above are actually far smaller in file size than their little PNG thumbnail previews! You can do a lot in 1K of PostScript.

If you use these patterns, I’d love to hear about it! Put links to graphics in the comments below! If there are other patterns you wish you had, let us know, too.

Enjoy!

 

David Blatner is the co-founder of the Creative Publishing Network, InDesign Magazine, CreativePro Magazine, and the author or co-author of 15 books, including Real World InDesign. His InDesign videos at LinkedIn Learning (Lynda.com) are among the most watched InDesign training in the world.
You can find more about David at 63p.com

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  • wdriver says:

    Thanks for the patterns. These should come in handy in several projects.

  • Kimber Thompson says:

    Thanks for the freebies! How about an article on how to write the Postscript codes? I’d love to learn how to do that too :)

  • Sylvia S. says:

    Thanks, always handy to have in ones arsenal.

  • Mark Gelotte says:

    Sweeeet!

    This is what I was hoping to see with line patterns. Many thanks.

  • Asif says:

    Thank you very much

  • mshaley123 says:

    I guess I am missing the obvious but I appear to be caught in a loop. I go the free vector link  and then I end up back here.

  • daniel says:

    If you stare at the pattern 6th from bottom for a while you can see David Blatner’s face in it!

  • carrie says:

    Oopsie: hot link in 1st paragraph, 1st sentence, in article is broken.

  • muse says:

    actually, how to download? i can see any download links or buttons

  • Neal Brooks says:

    I accidentally created a 1gb Indesign file buy loading screen captures (embedded) into a 50 pg document. It will not allow me to open it. Can you help me out or direct me to a resource online or here in Houston? Thanks!

    • David Blatner says:

      Hi Neal: That sounds frustrating! I suggest you leave a note over at InDesignSecrets.com/forums (you’ll need a free or premium membership to post).

  • Tonya says:

    For some reason I am not able to download as a vector file. When I click download the file comes in as a PDF and when I opened the PDF in Illustrator it is an entire page rather than individual vector lines. I may be downloading it wrong or I may have misunderstood.

    Anyway, great patterns and would love to use one.

    Thanks,
    Tonya

    • David Blatner says:

      Great point: Tonya… they are vector, but not all of them are editable objects in Illustrator. They’re created using custom code which Illustrator can’t always interpret.

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