How to Create & Repeat Patterns Designs in Procreate (Step-by-Step)

Start by drawing your pattern design in the middle of the canvas, leaving empty space around all the edges. Then make a new layer that you fill with a solid color, this will help us when we move the layers around since Procreate’s transform tool need the canvas to be filled to work the way we want it to do.

By tapping the N I have circled on the image you can change the layer opacity to about 50% so you can see your design beneath the solid color layer.

To move all your design layers as if they were one, we need to create a group of layers. To group your design layers with the solid color layer, you first select one layer and then swipe right on all the layers you want to add to your group. Then press on “Group”.

To duplicate your group, swipe left on it and click duplicate.

You can hide one of your groups so only one is visible. Then take the transform tool that I have circled up to the left to move your group. Make sure that Magnetics and snapping are ON! Then drag your layer upwards, the solid color layer helps us see where we place it.

Now make your second group visible and move it downwards the same way you did previously. It will magically snap in place. But thanks to the solid color layer we can also see that there is no gap or overlap between the groups. Had there been a gap we would see a stripe of the background color peep through, and where there is an overlap it would show a darker color stripe where it overlapped because of the opacity on the colored layers.

Continue to draw your design in the empty space created by moving the groups.
Combine your two groups to one so it’s easier to keep things organized when you move forward.

Repeat steps 4-7 but this time move your groups sideways.

Here I have filled in the gap created by moving my groups sideways. But as you can see there is an empty area on the top and bottom of my pattern.
I also cleaned up my groups and layers so only one remains, but this is optional, I just like my files neat and tidy.

I repeated steps 4-6 again in order to fix my empty area, now I can just fill it in.

Your pattern repeat is done!
But if you want to check how it actually looks like in a repeat do the extra steps below.

First, make a copy of your pattern layer so you don’t accidentally change it!
Then take your copied pattern layer and use the transform tool and shrink it to a fourth of its size. Duplicate your layer and move it to the right, and merge the two layers and then duplicate to move that copy down

By shrinking and copying your layers on the previous step we now can see how our pattern repeat actually looks like repeated four times.