Surface Pattern Design Playbook — Links & Resources

Everything that goes with the book, kept up to date — so the links never go stale.

Last updated: July 2026

Free extras

Downloads & files

Free files that go with the book — open them alongside the relevant chapter.

Supplementary design file (Figma) The Figma file referenced in the book — open it alongside the relevant chapter.
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Sample pattern file (for the tutorial) The sample Illustrator pattern file used in the step-by-step tutorial chapters.
Coming soon
.ase colour swatches Adobe colour swatch file with the palettes referenced in the colourways chapter.
Coming soon

Platform comparison spreadsheet Spoonflower vs other platforms — product types, fees, commissions and whether artists are accepted.
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Spoonflower design challenges (current) The live design challenges with themed briefs and public voting.
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Spoonflower design challenges (past) Browse past challenges and winners for trend and theme signals.
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Artfuly Pattern Trend Report My automated, regularly updated surface pattern trend report.
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Photoshop alternatives A live list of Photoshop alternatives across platforms and budgets.
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Illustrator alternatives A live list of Illustrator alternatives across platforms and budgets.
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Infinite Painter Patterns tutorial (video) Walks through Pattern Project mode — the canvas repeats seamlessly as you draw.
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Sizing your design (Spoonflower) Official sizing guide, including downloadable PSD templates.
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Repeat options (Spoonflower) Basic, half-brick, half-drop and mirror repeats explained.
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Uploading images (Spoonflower) File types and the upload process, step by step.
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Colour accuracy + .ase swatch download Make sure your design prints the colour you want — includes the Adobe Swatch Exchange file and white-background setup.
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Complete guide to .ase files How to import .ase swatches via the Swatches panel in Photoshop and Illustrator.
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sRGB colour profile guide Saving image files as sRGB to match Spoonflower’s printing process.
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Selling on Spoonflower Spoonflower’s official seller pages — how selling, commissions and promotion work.
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Seamless pattern checker Quick seamless check of your tile before uploading.
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Versatile — compose tool Another quick way to preview how your tile repeats.
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Versatile — draw tool Draw on a tile and watch the pattern develop everywhere else — great for layout problems.
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Adobe Text-to-Vector guide Generate vector artwork with Text to Vector Graphic in Illustrator.
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Spoonflower seamless repeat tutorial Create a seamless repeat for Spoonflower using Illustrator and Photoshop.
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Photoshop: create a new pattern (Adobe) Adobe’s step-by-step guide to creating and filling with patterns.
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Photoshop seamless repeat (Spoonflower blog) Design a seamless repeat with Photoshop — Spoonflower’s own tutorial.
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Creating & modifying brushes (Adobe) Adobe’s guide to creating and modifying Photoshop brushes.
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Midjourney explore feed Browse AI-generated imagery for inspiration.
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Tylify — seamless patterns in Figma Figma plugin that generates seamless patterns from vector or raster elements.
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LightX AI Pattern Generator Simple AI prompt pattern design, good for quick concepts. Free tier: up to 5 images a day.
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Spoonflower 'Creating' help section The full set of Spoonflower design and file-prep guides.
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Adobe Firefly — Generative Recolor Upload an SVG and recolour it with text prompts (successor to the old Adobe Labs recolour tool).
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chaiNNer (open-source upscaler) Free, node-based AI image upscaling with a choice of models.
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Topaz Gigapixel AI Advanced AI upscaling up to 6x — one-time purchase with free trial.
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Designing a Mural (Spoonflower tutorial) The full official mural tutorial the chapter is built around.
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Wallpaper sizing & overlap reference Spoonflower’s wallpaper sizing reference, including the panel overlap behaviour.
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Faux mural tutorial (Spoonflower blog) An alternative large-scale mural effect approach.
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Artfuly Pattern Trend Report My automated, personalised trend report for pattern designers.
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Spoonflower Best Sellers What is actually selling right now.
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Spoonflower Top Sellers Top-selling designs on the platform.
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Spoonflower Trending Currently trending designs.
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Spoonflower Top Trending Design The top trending design pages, updated regularly.
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Spoonflower Top Trends (curated) Spoonflower’s curated trend collections.
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Seasonal trend report (Spoonflower blog) Spoonflower’s seasonal trend report — check for the latest edition.
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Spoonflower Seller Handbook Official resources for selling on Spoonflower.
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Spoonflower Small Business Handbook Official resources for building a small design business.
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Wallpaper inspiration styles Spoonflower’s style showcases — browse wallpaper styles for positioning ideas.
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Behance folio example — Flora An example of using Behance as a pattern design portfolio.
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How to Find Your Art Niche — the Ultimate Guide Serena Archetti’s in-depth guide to finding your niche as an artist.
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Trend-combining source article Source for the trend-combining insight (frogs + art nouveau, swords + florals).
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Tea-towel design guidelines Artwork specs for Spoonflower tea towels.
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Fill-A-Yard Spoonflower’s Fill-A-Yard tool — combine collection designs on one yard.
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Platform comparison spreadsheet The full comparison of platforms, fees and commissions (same as Part 1).
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Redbubble Best Sellers search What sells on Redbubble right now.
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TopBubbleIndex Redbubble trend tracking tool.
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Insightfactory Redbubble trend data tool.
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BubbleSpider Keyword research and best-sellers for Redbubble.
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Merch Dominator Redbubble trends finder.
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PodCS Redbubble trend tools A collection of Redbubble research tools.
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Society6 Best Sellers Overall best sellers on Society6.
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Society6 Best Sellers — Art Prints Best-selling art prints.
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Society6 Best Sellers — T-Shirts Best-selling t-shirt designs.
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Etsy mural search See what wall murals sell on Etsy and how they’re presented.
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Spoonflower design tutorials The full design tutorials category on the Spoonflower blog.
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