Create camouflage patterns
Have you ever needed to create camouflage patterns in Illustrator, but not known the best way to go about it? Derek Lea demonstrates his own time-saving method
Camouflage, and many other artistic patterns, rely on the use of a few basic visual elements. It’s through the repetition and variation of these elements that appealing designs are created. In Illustrator, you can easily create a pattern by Alt/Option-dragging your completed objects around on the artboard, making dozens of copies of them. However, the downside to this method is that your file can get cumbersome to work with very quickly and editing the pattern after the fact can prove to be a nightmare.
Using Symbols is the ideal method for creating pattern designs. If your pattern is made up of only a few shapes, use them to create a series of Symbols. The Symbols themselves will reside within the Symbols palette, and you’ll use instances of the Symbols on the artboard to create your design. All instances are linked to the original Symbol, so any edits applied to a Symbol will be immediately reflected in all of the instances linked to it.
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