There are different styles of creating repeat prints, but all are designed to seamlessly repeat and artwork along a length. In some repeats you can clearly see where the “tile” of artwork is and in some it is nearly impossible to decipher the intertwining elements of the print. Depending on the end use of the print all methods of repeat are relevant for a particular purpose.
Ensuring a repeat will work as you desire, you must set it up as a perfect tile ready to duplicate along the fabric.
Common types of repeats:
Full Drop
A full drop repeat print tiles the design across the width of the fabric and down the length of the desired fabric length. The outcome is an even grid.
Half Drop
A half drop repeat print is similar to a full drop, however instead of tiling evenly across and down it offsets the tile by half the image height.
Mirror
A mirrored repeat print mirrors the design horizontally AND vertically resulting in a sort of kaleidoscopic pattern.
Seamless Repeat
A seamless repeat is a type of full drop repeat print where the design goes over the boundaries of the tile in such a way that when repeated the top of the tile matches perfectly to the bottom of the tile above it and the sides match up as well, creating a less obvious grid pattern.
