Smashing Magazine
The Ultimate Collection Of Free Photoshop Patterns
Photoshop users can save themselves a great deal of time and end up with better results by taking advantage of readily available freebies, such as brushes, patterns and shapes. With the wide variety and (often) high quality of resources available, whatever you need or are looking for is in most cases already available somewhere. The only problem is that the vast quantity of freebies can make it difficult to track down what you need. Hopefully this collection of excellent Photoshop patterns will help.
The resources featured here are all available as downloads in PAT format, which can be placed in Photoshop. In addition to this format, there is also a number of quality resources online for creating or using patterns in other formats that can be used by any program, not just Photoshop. As with any type of freebie, always be sure to check the license or requirements set by the creator.
Skull Patterns
Two skull patterns from Go Media using an image from one of its vector packs.
Carbon Fiber
A carbon fiber pattern.
Patterns from PunkSafetyPin
This set of 15 patterns from a deviantART user offers more than 30 other packs of patterns.
Grunge Pattern Set
Nine large and high-quality grunge patterns.
Dots Pattern Set
Eight dot patterns of various colors and styles.
Hexagonal Patterns
Seventy-two black-and-white horizontal and vertical patterns.
Skulls and Hearts
Three different gray, white and pink patterns.
Charcoal Demask
One seamless pattern.
Victiorian Dreams Textures
Ten textured patterns of different variations.
Paisley
A set of eight stylish paisley patterns.
Checkered Patterns
Three different patterns featuring a checkered design.
Different Texture
A swirling flourish pattern.
Scanline and Screentone Patterns
A big collection of 27 different patterns.
Spiderman Pattern
One tileable metal pattern.
Patterns from DesignSpice
A set of 10 repeating blue patterns.
Zig-Zag Pattern Set
Eight colorful zig-zag patterns.
Scanlines1000
A set of 21 transparent patterns of scan lines.
Patterns by Raimyu
A set of 20 patterns of different kinds.
Squidfingers Pack
A huge set of 108 different patterns of all kinds.
Textured Stripes
Six patterns of textured diagonal stripes of various colors.
Floral Patterns
A set of 17 patterns with different floral styles.
Tile Patterns
A large set of 36 patterns of tiles. Brick and wood patterns are also included.
Animal Print Patterns
This set includes 18 different animal-fur print and skin patterns.
Grungy and Dirty Patterns
Seamless, big texture patterns. There are 27 in the set.
Micro Patterns
A big collection of 54 patterns.
Vector Patterns
Twelve attractive patterns in this set.
Wallpaper Patterns
A total of six patterns (two different sizes of three patterns).
Dots and Stripes Patterns
Ten patterns, four of stripes and six of dots.
Floral Patterns
Includes 28 patterns, plus PNG files for each.
Cards Pattern
Eight different variations of the pattern are included.
Handmade Paper Patterns
A set of seven patterns (the same pattern in seven colors).
Patterns by Camilak3
A set of 17 patterns that include stars, butterflies, hearts and paw prints.
Web 2.0 Pattern Collection
A huge set of 133 patterns in various Web 2.0 styles.
Seamless Patterns
Six different patterns to choose from.
Wood Pattern Textures Set
This set includes 19 wood patterns with different shades and styles.
Plaid and Checkered Patterns
A total of 25 patterns are included in this set.
Lace Patterns
This set contains 19 seamless lace patterns.
Noise Patterns
Ten seamless noise patterns for adding texture.
This set includes eight brick patterns.
Composition Patterns
Five patterns of notebook paper and a composition book.
PS Patterns Pack
A set of three different patterns, including squares, dots and hearts.
Fire Patterns
A set of 20 high-resolution fire patterns.
Chevrons Pattern Set
A set of eight patterns of different shapes and colors.
Fiber Paper Pattern Set
A set of 10 patterns of different colors with a textured look.
Patterns #22
A set of 30 colorful patterns.
Spring Fling
This set includes 36 pink and green patterns.
Stripes Patterns
A set of 30 disturbed stripe patterns.
Line Patterns
This set contains 25 colorful patterns of lines.
Bourbon Stripes
A set of 12 stripe patterns, both vertical and horizontal, with different color combinations.
Hearts and Boxes
Three patterns in a hand-drawn style.
[Offtopic: by the way, did you know that there is a Smashing eBook Series? Book #2 is Successful Freelancing for Web Designers, 260 pages for just $9,90.]
Related Resources, Tutorials and Articles:
How to Install Photoshop Patterns
If you’re unsure how to install and use the patterns featured here, this article explains the simple process.
Photoshop Tutorial: Creating Custom Patterns
Hongkiat has a tutorial that demonstrates the steps in creating a simple repeating pattern.
Creating Patterns in Photoshop CS2
Veerle demonstrates how to use Illustrator and Photoshop to create a seamless pattern.
BgPatterns
A fun and useful tool for creating your own JPG file to use as a repeating pattern.
Stripe Generator
If a striped pattern is what you’re after, this tool will let you create your own any way you like it.
COLOURlovers
COLOURlovers has a great collection of user-submitted patterns for downloading in PNG format.
(al)
Steven Snell has been designing websites for several years. He actively maintains a few blogs of his own, including DesignM.ag, which regularly provides articles and resources for web designers.
- 98 Comments
- 1
- 2
February 12th, 2009 7:12 pmVery cool collection that designers can use in so many different ways. As always, Thanks.
- 3February 12th, 2009 7:15 pm
Thanks SM for posting this. Excellent references. Love Squidfingers, BGpatterns and especially colourLovers.
- 4February 12th, 2009 7:15 pm
Now that is what is really Ultimate!
A great thanks for the great post - 5February 12th, 2009 7:23 pm
Those are fantastic. Thanks for compiling.
- 6February 12th, 2009 7:27 pm
Great collection, thanks for adding patterns from our site.
- 7February 12th, 2009 7:30 pm
beautiful collection….
- 8February 12th, 2009 7:35 pm
Wow, great collection. Bookmarking!
- 9March 11th, 2010 11:44 am
hi how do you do ?
i like photo shop.
- 9
- 10February 12th, 2009 7:57 pm
great collection as usual SM, I would like to see how some of these are used in SM readers designs and layouts… anyone?
- 11February 12th, 2009 8:04 pm
Most of these are not very good.
- 12February 12th, 2009 8:06 pm
Wonderful collection. Nice touch with the resource sites and tutorials at the bottom.
- 13February 12th, 2009 8:13 pm
That’s one amazing collection of patterns, I’m going to be downloading all night now! Keep up the good work SM!
- 14February 12th, 2009 8:15 pm
Pretty nice collection, thanks!
- 15February 12th, 2009 8:19 pm
I liked the photoshop tutorials. Thanks
- 16February 12th, 2009 8:28 pm
Nice collection, is that Stripes Patterns link really working?
- 17February 12th, 2009 8:44 pm
as usual .. great post .. great stuff .. tks a lot :)
- 18February 12th, 2009 8:49 pm
Very nice collaction I like it…:)
- 19February 12th, 2009 8:52 pm
Wow, excellent collection, thanks! :)
- 20February 12th, 2009 9:13 pm
incredible source!
- 21February 12th, 2009 9:25 pm
More freebies…. Nice !!
- 22February 12th, 2009 10:20 pm
Very useful, where do you get all that stuff! ;-)
- 23February 12th, 2009 10:40 pm
thanks for this collection. That what i was looking for.
- 24February 12th, 2009 11:03 pm
this is great! I love reading the news and using the stuff of smashing magazine!
- 25February 12th, 2009 11:04 pm
File not found on the “stripe patterns” link.
Nice collection. - 26February 13th, 2009 12:04 am
They look beautiful but is there a way to convert pat files to png?
- 27February 13th, 2009 12:52 am
An awesome post as usual.
These patterns would really serve my small purpose. But, I wish their creators to be highly proactive as these things are superb.
Thanks for sharing these.
- 28February 13th, 2009 12:58 am
This is a nice collection!
- 29February 13th, 2009 1:10 am
“Stripes Patterns” link doesn’t working, could you please fix it?
- 30February 13th, 2009 1:21 am
… and thank You! :)
- 31February 13th, 2009 1:30 am
nice
- 32February 13th, 2009 1:58 am
great links!
thanks for sharing …
- 33February 13th, 2009 2:08 am
Thx! Beauty pattern!
- 34February 13th, 2009 2:09 am
Really nice collection! Thanks ;)
Does anybody know where to find more WOODEN PATTERNS?.. Thanks for help!
- 35February 13th, 2009 2:23 am
Nice collection. The tuts are usefull too! Thanks.
- 36February 13th, 2009 3:06 am
More, more, mooore! Excellent stuff, again :)
- 37February 13th, 2009 6:07 am
great! thanks a lot for the recollection!
- 38February 13th, 2009 6:14 am
neat!!!
- 39February 13th, 2009 6:29 am
In the voice of Chandler from Friends….. Could Smashing Magazine be any more useful??
- 40June 2nd, 2010 10:23 am
LOL.
- 40
- 41February 13th, 2009 7:25 am
K10K has a nice gallery of pixel patterns that you could have included as well:
http://www.k10k.net/pixelpatterns/ If you haven’t, you should check them out.. :) - 42February 13th, 2009 9:43 am
Finally, thx. :)
- 43February 13th, 2009 10:25 am
“The Ultimate Collection Of Free Photoshop Patterns” till SM releases a new collection. Maybe the title should be “Another Awesome Collection Of Free Photoshop Patterns”.
- 44February 13th, 2009 10:25 am
The main problem with 70% of these is that they are bricked by attribution clauses in the terms of use. This doesn’t seem to be as big of a problem in many of the icon and font galleries.
Sometimes it is good to share just for sharing’s sake.. all of us designers post a few things here and there without restriction (except that someone doesn’t resale the collection), and we all have more tools to use in our work.
In 3 years, if I choose a pattern out of the thousands on my computer and throw it over an element in my design, I won’t be able to dig around and figure out who I am ‘required’ to link back to in order not to violate the copyright.
Plus, what bank, corporation, government agency or business is going to allow the designer to throw “Random square pattern barely visible in background of contact form by [link]PhotoshopPWNRdood[/link]“? They won’t, therefore the pattern is completely useless for downloaders.
I quickly check the Terms of Use on each set, see if there is an attribution or ‘ask permission’ clause, and if there is, I have to skip it. When I post my own freebies, I un-cuff them and let the community use them, knowing others will do the same and it will benefit me. These designers should do the same. If you want credit and money, then please just sell your work.. but don’t tease us with a free download that is anything but.
- 45February 13th, 2009 12:07 pm
thank you for this awesome post
- 46February 13th, 2009 2:49 pm
The Stripes Patterns link is broken :/
- 47February 13th, 2009 3:31 pm
thx for huge archive especially for Web 2.0 Pattern Collection its amazing!
i was seeking for a long time something like that - 48February 13th, 2009 3:58 pm
You all are absolute saints. Lovin’ SM.
- 49February 13th, 2009 10:53 pm
love smashingmagazine more than my desktop :)
- 50February 14th, 2009 2:27 am
thanx for all the Patterns
- 51February 14th, 2009 4:39 am
Wow! Thanks you very much for sharing this! It’s a good damn jungle out there on the net – but Smashing Magazine makes it easy to find things!
You are my heroes!!
/H
- 52February 14th, 2009 6:58 am
Wow! Wow! Wow! All great one of the Stripes Pattern Links are working any chance of updating called ‘Stripes Pattern’
Thanks
- 53February 14th, 2009 11:58 am
@Jesse:
Thank you for the common sense post. They should include it at the top of the article.
- 54February 14th, 2009 1:37 pm
niceeeee
- 55February 15th, 2009 3:45 am
This has to be the ultimate pattern resource going around…whatever you need, I’m sure you can find it here!
- 56February 15th, 2009 3:15 pm
Couldn’t agree with Jesse (#42) more. Great post.
So many times I have wanted to use a pattern or font or icon offered here on SM only to find its restricted in some way. Its awesome to see the level of thought and design skill that goes on, but I know that most of the ‘free’ stuff is anything but.
I can see the fear you may have that somehow your designs end up being stolen and used for what you didnt want it used for, but lets face it, people who do that arent going to care a jot for any permission you may put on it.
Protect what you really want to protect, but please for those of us who are design challenged, let the others fly.
- 57February 15th, 2009 6:38 pm
NICE INPOH GAN ! Kasih ijo2 nya gan …
- 58February 16th, 2009 3:17 am
Wow!!! Thanks for sharing these kind of pattern collections. I’ve been searching for this. ;) finally got here
- 59February 16th, 2009 4:23 am
Great Post, keep putting up buddies.
- 60February 16th, 2009 9:32 am
Awesome!
Thanks for sharing! - 61February 17th, 2009 12:20 pm
Too bad there isn’t a good grass or clouds pattern.
- 62February 17th, 2009 5:15 pm
really nice collection
- 63February 18th, 2009 3:08 am
I’m with you number 10…
- 64February 18th, 2009 8:44 pm
The “striped pattern” link to “http://patterndepartment.deviantart.com/art/pd-stripes-pattern-54693766″ doesn’t work. Great collection otherwise.
- 65February 19th, 2009 1:39 am
awesome!
- 66February 19th, 2009 11:54 am
Mane bau maja padi…Atla sundar chitra joine maru man gadgadit thay uthyu…Kyathi uthavya…Bijo kai kam dhandho chhe ke nai….Navra betha betha aaj karo chho ke su?…Amara gam ma kehvat chhe..” Navro betho nakhod vaare “….haru to biju kai sotado to kejo…….hoke…gud of luck……Billu barber joyu ke nai….Chhokra ne lai ne joi aavjo ho….
- 67February 19th, 2009 1:39 pm
patterndepartment.deviantart.com
can’t update this. link & picture deleted. sorry. - 68February 20th, 2009 3:44 am
Thanks!
What a great design ressource!!! Please keep up the great work – one of the patterns saved my day!Kind regards
Daniel
DForm - 69February 25th, 2009 1:10 pm
Thanks
- 70February 26th, 2009 2:04 pm
Thank you so much for sharing these patterns and all of the resources you share with the design community!
- 71March 3rd, 2009 12:58 am
Some really nice textures here, ideal for subtle website backgrounds. These types of images can really bring to life a simple coloured gradient.
thanks for sharing… - 72March 19th, 2009 6:13 pm
so happy i found this
- 73April 18th, 2009 4:08 am
Ok, this can sound a bit odd, but how do you open a .pat file? I’m using PS CS4 and it won’t open it. No errors, no nothing, it just won’t open it.
Thank you,
Alex - 74May 25th, 2009 5:01 am
Thank You
- 75June 4th, 2009 12:38 pm
Thanks….
its from bottom of my heart.
I am really speechless and happy with ur wok.Once again thanks….
sudhir - 76June 7th, 2009 5:56 am
they r good but i could not find water drop patterns in ur collection . pls send it to my mail if they r with u .
- 77July 15th, 2009 4:03 am
These things are just so great. Time saving and just add some perfections to your work. If u a novice to photoshop, use these
- 78August 13th, 2009 5:30 am
Great PAtterns :D thx
- 79August 24th, 2009 8:36 pm
Wallpaper Patterns
A total of six patterns (two different sizes of three patterns). – that url is not working,if anyone can get back to us or fix that link for that set, or find it on deviantart, that would be super good.
thanks.
Stoj
- 80September 9th, 2009 8:52 am
http://idesignpatterns.com is another great source for Photoshop patterns.
- 81September 17th, 2009 9:34 am
i want to make love to it
- 82November 2nd, 2009 1:56 pm
Thank you for sharing with us !
- 83November 20th, 2009 7:13 pm
I learn more photoshop guides
- 84December 6th, 2009 1:59 am
The whole design community owes you a big thank you for these…extremely useful and time saving. I use them all the time and really appreciate having sites like this to come to for tweaks and improvements.
- 85January 10th, 2010 11:11 pm
Good list of patterns and backgrounds. Using a couple of them for my website.
Thanks for listing these cool patterns and backgrounds. - 86February 7th, 2010 3:56 pm
Thank you very much
sincerely ! great collection - 87February 9th, 2010 11:39 pm
Try and Feel pride, This is realy great.
- 88February 19th, 2010 11:58 pm
wow…
great… thx…—-
- 89February 21st, 2010 1:09 pm
really nice list of pattern
- 90February 24th, 2010 6:40 pm
feel like i just hit a goldmine.
- 91April 2nd, 2010 1:06 pm
ok! :)
- 92May 1st, 2010 8:33 am
Thanks, I was only looking for a couple of different stripes – ended up downloading loads of them!
- 93May 31st, 2010 9:31 am
Loved them!!
Thanks!! - 94June 4th, 2010 10:16 am
Awesome collection. The only problem (for me, because I’m not really a design god) is choosing the right pattern.
Thankx - 95June 17th, 2010 2:26 am
Excellent stuff, some good patterns there to use.
- 96August 3rd, 2010 11:48 pm
Great collection, nice way to add depth to a design.
- 97September 1st, 2010 6:15 am
Once again, Smashing Mag provides an awesome resource for designers (and wanna-bes).
- 98September 7th, 2010 2:19 am
Alright, this is a huge collection, thanks!
Leave a Comment
Make sure you enter the * required information where indicated. Please also rate the article as it will help us decide future content and posts. Comments are moderated – and rel="nofollow" is in use. Please no link dropping, no keywords or domains as names; do not spam, and do not advertise!
- @sazzy yaaay, happy birthday, Sarah! And congratulations to the wedding! You are a great couple!
- Good News: Dual-Core CPU Opens Door To 1080p On Smartphones - http://bit.ly/a0KowT
- Man Who Destroyed the Boring Interface and Lived - http://bit.ly/c2SjIh - Very interesting read. #graphic #design
- @simoncollison Happy Birthday, Simon. Have a good one, a don't work too much ;-)
- Fresh on SmashingMag: Designing and Producing Creative Business Cards: Techniques and Details - http://bit.ly/ceOKDd
- Google Instant Search Is Released - http://bit.ly/drRq8U
- Web Project: Weighing Cost vs Speed vs Quality - http://bit.ly/ap9IIl
- CSS3Menu: create CSS3-based menus with this free library - http://bit.ly/bJfj1l
- Web Wireframe Kit (a free PSD file) - http://bit.ly/d14tll
- A step to be ahead: start designing for mobile devices - http://bit.ly/dv6DQN
Sweet!