Scaling patterns but keeping the artboard seamless...

[chi13003]

This is kind of a hard topic to describe. I design seamless patterns and I'm trying to use a pattern fill as my background, but when I scale it the edges of my artboard are no longer seamless. How do I scale a pattern so that I can use it in a repeating pattern? Is there a way to see where the pattern repeat is so I can match it to my artboard?

[Monika Gause]

Can you please give us a little context?

What will happen after scaling?

This ould all be easier when you expand the pattern, but will that be useful in your workflow?

[chi13003]

I'm using a pre-made pattern swatch. When I apply it to my square the pattern scale is too small so I increase the scale. I know that patterns are inherently seamless, but how do I find the exact pattern repeat so I can match it to my box?

[Ton Frederiks · Accepted solution]

If I understand correctly:

Drag the pattern swatch from the Swatches Panel to your Artboard.

Select it (it is a group) and look in the Layers Panel at the bottom of the group for a Path.

It is a no stroke / no filled rectangle.

That will be the exact size of your pattern repeat.