Written by Steve Patterson. In the previous tutorial, we learned the basics of creating and using simple repeating patterns in Photoshop. We designed a single tile using the Elliptical Marquee Tool and the Offset filter. We then saved the tile as a pattern. Finally, we selected the pattern and used it to fill a layer, with the pattern seamlessly repeating as many times as needed to cover the entire area.

This tutorial continues from where we left off, so you may want to complete the previous section where we created and added our "Circles" pattern if you haven't done so already.

The main problem with the repeating pattern we've created so far is that it's not very interesting, and a big reason is that it's nothing more than a black pattern in front of a white background. In this tutorial, we'll learn how to spice things up a bit by adding colors and gradients! As before, I'll be using Photoshop CS5 here, but any recent version of Photoshop will work.

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Here's our design as it appears so far:

Adding Solid Colors

Let's start by replacing the white background with a color. We could use Photoshop's Fill command to fill the Background layer with a color, but let's give ourselves more flexibility by using what's called a fill layer (we'll see what I mean by it being more flexible a bit later). First, click on the Background layer in the Layers panel to select it:

With the Background layer selected, click on the New Fill or Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel:

Select Solid Color from the top of the list of fill and adjustment layers that appears:

As soon as you choose Solid Color from the list, Photoshop will pop open the Color Picker so we can choose the color we want to use. This is the color that will become the new background color for the design. I'm going to choose a medium blue. Of course, you can choose any color you like, but if you want to use the same colors I'm using, look for the R, G and B options (which stand for Red, Green and Blue) near the bottom center of the Color Picker and enter 98 for the R value, 175 for G, and 200 for B:

Click OK when you're done to close out of the Color Picker, and if we look at the design in the document window, we see that we've easily replaced the white background with the new color:

If we look in the Layers panel, we can see what's happened. Photoshop has added a solid color fill layer, which it named Color Fill 1, between the white-filled Background layer and the black circle pattern on Layer 1. The reason we selected the Background layer before adding the fill layer was because Photoshop adds new layers directly above the layer that's currently selected and we needed the fill layer to appear above the Background layer but below the circle pattern. The circles remain black in our document because they're on a layer above the fill layer, which means they're not being affected by it:

We can use another fill layer to add a different color to the circle pattern itself. This time, we need Photoshop to add the fill layer above the circle pattern, so click on Layer 1 to select it:

Then once again click on the New Fill or Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel and choose Solid Color from the top of the list, just as we did before. Photoshop will again open the Color Picker so we can choose the color we want to use. I'll choose a very light blue this time by entering 216 for the R value, 231 for G and 239 for B:

Click OK to close out of the Color Picker, and just like that, our repeating circles now appear in the new light blue color:

Wait a minute, what happened? Where did our circles go? Where's the background color we just added? Why is everything now light blue? If we look in the Layers panel, we see the problem, and the problem is that Photoshop did exactly what we asked it to do. It added a solid color fill layer named Color Fill 2, filled with the light blue color we chose in the Color Picker, above the circles pattern on Layer 1:

Unfortunately, since the fill layer is sitting above all the other layers in the Layers panel, it's blocking everything else from view in the document, which is why all we see is light blue. We need a way to tell Photoshop that we want our new fill layer to affect only the circles pattern on Layer 1 below it, and we can do that using what's called a clipping mask.

Make sure the Color Fill 2 layer is active in the Layers panel (active layers are highlighted in blue. Click on it to select it if for some reason it's not active). Go up to the Layer menu in the Menu Bar along the top of the screen and choose Create Clipping Mask:

The Color Fill 2 layer will appear indented to the right in the Layers panel, telling us that it's now "clipped" to the contents of the layer below it, meaning that it's now affecting only the circle pattern on Layer 1:

And in the document window, we see the results we were expecting when we added the fill layer. The black circles now appear light blue against the darker blue background:

Changing Colors

Earlier I mentioned that fill layers give us more flexibility than if we were to fill a layer with Photoshop's Fill command, and the reason is because we can change a fill layer's color any time we want! To change the color of a fill layer, simply double-click directly on its thumbnail in the Layers panel. Let's change the color of our background. Double-click on the thumbnail for the Color Fill 1 layer, which is sitting above the Background layer:

This re-opens the Color Picker, allowing us to choose a different color. I'll choose a cherry color this time by entering 204 for my R value, 32 for G and 130 for B:

Click OK to close out of the Color Picker, and the document is instantly updated with our new background color:

Changing the color of the circles is just as easy. Simply double-click directly on the thumbnail for the Color Fill 2 layer:

This again re-opens the Color Picker so we can choose a new color. I'll choose a lighter pink by entering 218 for my R value, 144 for G and 161 for B:

Click OK to close out of the Color Picker, and once again, the document is instantly updated, this time with the new color for the circles:

Next, we'll look at how to colorize patterns with gradients!

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