Creating fabric repeats with Gimp

This tutorial, such as it is, could easily be called How to create seamless tile repeats with Gimp. If you do a google search for Gimp seamless, you will find lots of tutorials. Because of that, I won't do a detailed tutorial. This is a follow-up of my review of A Field Guide to Fabric Design.

The main difficulty I had with Gimp and creating a seamless repeat is a problem filter*.

Don't use this filter:

Filters - Map - Make Seamless

The resulting image doesn't make an attractive repeat. It overlaps the repeat with transparencies.

Instead the offset tool, which is similar to Photoshop, is located:

Layers - Transform - Offset

Finding this tool made all the difference. Conversely, I played around with the select tool and moving layers around to accomplish the same thing. The offset tool works best with the design repeat located far from the image borders and in the center of your image. For more complex repeats, manually selecting parts of the image, copy-paste into a new image and moving them in layers works better.**

I started my experiment with a vector line drawing made in Inkscape and exported as a PNG file.

Next I pulled the line drawing into Gimp, added a background color, and then applied the offset tool. After that, I filled in the blank areas. Again, detailed instructions in the book for a simple repeat and more complex repeats.

Gimp has a handy tool that allows you to test your repeat located here.

Filters - Map - Small tiles

This is how my repeat looks now.

The repeat could use a bit more work, but I think you get the idea. A Field Guide to Fabric Design has information on how to improve your repeat and also how to create a whole collection around this one design.


Of course, the real challenge is matching up the colors with Pantone.

* I tried to take screenshots of all of this but my print screen button wasn't cooperating.

** One of these days I may create a tutorial for this, but it is a bit more involved. My trial video demo took about 20 minutes.

Review : A field guide to fabric design

I hope all had a wonderful Christmas. It is during this time, the week between Christmas and New Year's, that I spend time cleaning off my desk and sorting my papers in preparation for the tax man. As depressing as it is to know that we will probably owe taxes this April, it is strangely cathartic to clear off the desk and start fresh for next year. Among the piles of papers is the book A field guide to fabric design by Kimberly Kight of the True Up blog.

Fabric design, or textile surface design, has long fascinated me. The ability to play with the color, proportion, and spacing of a design through a repeat is very intriguing. Kight briefly explores different styles, design and color fundamentals as applied to textiles. This includes a look at both digital and traditional design techniques. The meat of the book is the explanation of how repeats are created, including different repeat styles. Both digital and traditional (hand drawn) techniques are explained. Interspersed throughout the book are comments from fabric designers, both established and just starting out, from which the reader can draw inspiration. Finally, Kight presents ideas of how to print and sell your own fabric. What quickly becomes clear is that textiles fabric designing is a competitive and difficult market.

There are several instructional overviews including hand block printing, screen printing, designing a collection, and textile basics. All are comprehensive and a good foundation for further study and exploration.

The book is laid out well and is easy to read and follow. The instructions for designing repeats are clear and easy to understand. Kight strongly encourages the use of Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop because of their common usage in design work. She discourages the use of open source programs such as Gimp and Inkscape, which is unfortunate. Her primary objections to Gimp and Inkscape are the lack of Pantone color palettes*. The objection is valid because Pantone is used to ensure proper color matching. But anyone that has printed fabric knows that colors don't always work out as expected even when using Pantone**. Pantone color palettes are proprietary and that is the reason Gimp and Inkscape do not include them by default. In other words, their exclusion is entirely a legal and financial matter and not anything lacking in the software itself. But the palettes can be acquired (not easily) and added. Also, Pantone has CMYK and RGB equivalents (here is one tutorial) and if you are serious, you can buy a set of color chips and match things up. There will probably be a lot of back and forth until the correct colors are obtained, and that is probably why most designers use Illustrator and Photoshop (because there will be less of that). At the end of the day though, Gimp and Inkscape are just as robust as their commercial counterparts. In a separate blog article, I'll show how easy it is to design repeats using Gimp.

I liked this book a lot and I will reference it when I play around with designs, whether for a desktop wallpaper or for fabric I intend on printing.


*For more information google Gimp and Pantone.

**I managed to design a book cover using only free software and have it printed exactly as expected at one printer and not at another. There are a lot of variables between designing on a screen and a printer's capabilities that can't be completely solved by the use of one color matching system.

Question on fabric copyrights.

I've received some questions and thought I would take some time to answer them in a series of short blog entries.

Lara asked a question on fabric copyrights.

I wonder if you can help!?  I came across your blog and a similar thing happened to me - I make bags and was sold fabric for the bags that infringe on a large company's design rights.  I have now found some different fabric and am wondering how I can double check that it is not copyrighted to anyone - do you know how I can check this?

In the US, fabric that is sold is subject to the First Sale Doctrine, meaning you can use it as you choose. The exception to this is if the image contains licensed images or trademarks. An example of this would be a team logo or recognized cartoon character. Though even the use of fabric with licensed images is up for debate.* This right is currently being challenged as we speak at the US Supreme Court, which if the judges rule a certain way threatens this right. It would probably upend business as we know it.

Anyway, the current trend among textile surface designers is to license their designs to fabric converters (such as Michael Miller, as an example) while retaining all their copyrights. They seem to be ok with personal, home use of the fabric printed with their designs, but they don't like their designs being used on commercially made products without their permission. The idea is certainly in conflict with the First Sale Doctrine.

There have been instances of copyright and trademark infringement on fabric in the US. In those cases, the design on the fabric was copied and printed outside the distribution and control of the original designer and/or fabric manufacturer.

I think the situation presented in this question is a bit complex and I don't know enough of the details to offer much help. I think Lara may be from the UK? In which case there are different issues at play. The UK and European Union have seized on the idea of design rights and patents. In that case, a fabric print in combination with a specific product can be protected. I don't know how you can check on the copyright status or design rights of a particular print. You would probably have to rely on the integrity of the fabric supplier. In any event I think it would be difficult to ever know for sure if something was ok to use.

In the US, the answer is similar. Fabric prints have traditionally not been registered with the US copyright office. Designs, as in completed items like a dress, are not protected. So, you must rely on the integrity of the fabric supplier to supply fabric that is available for the use you intend. Intellectual property lawyers may be able to help, but I don't how many are versed on the complexities of the textile and fashion industries. Unfortunately, if the above trends continue (and if certain legislation is passed) the need for an IP lawyer will become a requirement for designers.

*If you can look past the hyperbole of the Tabberone site, they do make some interesting points.