What a repeat is
A repeat is the way a design continues across a surface. Designers build a print as one rectangle, the repeat unit or tile, then place copies of it edge to edge, along the length of the fabric and across its width. Done well, nobody can see where one tile stops and the next begins: the pattern looks continuous. That is what a seamless pattern means.
Two things describe a repeat. The repeat size is the width and height of the tile at print size, in centimetres or inches, or in pixels at a set resolution. The repeat type says how the copies are arranged. The same motif can be laid out in any type, but a finished tile has its edges matched for one arrangement: a tile made for a block shows seams if you drop it. That is why repeat software asks for the type first.
Block repeat
Block
- Also called
- Full drop, straight, basic or square repeat
- What moves
- Nothing: tiles sit side by side and directly above one another
- Best for
- Geometrics, checks, small all-over motifs and designs meant to line up
The simplest arrangement: the tile repeats in straight rows and columns, like a grid. It is quick to build and easy to check, and it suits geometric prints, checks and small, dense motifs. Its weakness is the grid itself. With a large or isolated motif, the eye picks out the rows and columns, sometimes as stripes the designer never drew. More in the block repeat guide.
Half drop repeat
Half drop
- Also called
- Half-drop match, drop repeat
- What moves
- Every other column, down by half the tile’s height
- Best for
- Large florals, bedding, curtains and wallpaper, where a grid would show
Each column of tiles is shifted down by half a tile, so the motifs line up on diagonals instead of rows. The print reads as one continuous flow, which is why the half drop is the usual choice for large florals and wide home-textile fabrics. The dashed outline shows a useful fact: two tiles side by side make a rectangle that repeats as a plain block, and that is how a half drop is built by hand. See the half drop repeat guide.
Brick repeat
Brick
- Also called
- Half brick, half-brick repeat
- What moves
- Every other row, sideways by half the tile’s width
- Best for
- Designs with a horizontal flow, and prints turned sideways on the roll
The brick is the half drop turned on its side. Each row of tiles is shifted sideways by half a tile, like courses of brickwork. The motifs again sit on diagonals, but the layout keeps a horizontal rhythm. Here the rectangle that repeats as a block is two tiles tall. See the brick repeat guide.
Horizontal and vertical repeats
Some designs only need to continue in one direction. A horizontal repeat joins seamlessly from left to right but not from top to bottom, the way a border runs along a hem, along the lower edge of a curtain or across a towel. A vertical repeat joins from top to bottom only, for stripes and bands that run down the length of the fabric.
Because only one pair of edges has to meet, the other direction is free: a border can fade out at the top, a stripe can stop at its sides. Some sources also describe the shift of a brick or a drop as a horizontal or vertical shift, so check which one a brief means.
Mirror repeat
Mirror
- Also called
- Mirrored or reflected repeat
- What moves
- The tile flips left to right in every other column, and top to bottom in every other row
- Best for
- Ornamental, damask-like and geometric designs with a symmetrical look
In a mirror repeat the tile is reflected rather than copied. Every edge meets its own reflection, so the joins are seamless by construction, and the motifs form symmetrical groups where four tiles meet. It is a quick way to turn a loose sketch into an ornamental pattern. The trade-off is that everything becomes symmetrical, which can look stiff for natural motifs such as florals. The full repeat is four tiles: two across, two down.
Mirror is not one of the repeat types MYTH’s Make Seamless makes. In MYTH it appears only in Mockup Generator, as a way to lay a pattern over an area of a product. Mirror Mode in MYTH Edit is something else: it brings a motif that crosses the frame’s edge back in on the opposite side, which builds a block tile. It does not reflect anything.
Other layouts designers use
- Diamond or centre repeat. A motif at each corner of the unit and one more in its centre, so the motifs line up on diagonals and outline diamond shapes. Seen as tiles, it is a half drop whose tile is half as wide as it is tall.
- Ogee. An onion-shaped lattice of S-curves, common in damasks and traditional wallpapers, with a motif framed in each cell. The cells sit in the same diagonal arrangement as a diamond.
- Tossed or scattered. Motifs placed at different angles and spacings inside the tile, so the print looks random and has no up or down. Underneath it is still a block or a half drop. Because it has no direction, pattern pieces can be cut either way up, which saves fabric when cutting.
- Drops other than half. A third or a quarter drop shifts each column by that fraction of the tile, which sets the motifs on diagonal lines that read as slanted bands. Some studios call these step or diagonal repeats.
- Turned layouts. The motif is rotated a quarter or half turn from one position to the next, which spreads its direction around the fabric.
Every one of these still repeats on a straight grid once you take a large enough rectangle: two tiles for a half drop or a brick, three for a third drop, four for a mirror or a turned layout. That rectangle is the full repeat.
Which repeat for which product
| Product | Usual layout | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Bedding and duvet covers | Half drop for all-over prints; a placement panel for engineered designs | Wide surfaces where a grid would show; a duvet cover can also carry one large panel |
| Curtains | Half drop or block | Panels hang side by side, and the repeat height sets how much fabric goes into matching them |
| Upholstery | Block or half drop, scaled to the piece | Large motifs are centred on seats and backs, so a bigger repeat leaves more fabric over |
| Apparel | Block, half drop or tossed, often small in scale | Small, non-directional repeats let pattern pieces be cut in any direction |
| Borders, hems and towel bands | Horizontal | The design only has to continue along one edge |
| Stripes and bands | Vertical | They run down the length of the fabric |
| Scarves, T-shirt prints, cushion panels | Placement (no repeat) | The design is made to fit one shape, edges included |
These are habits, not rules. A small ditsy print can be a block on a duvet, and a large floral can work as a brick on a blouse. What decides it is how much of the print is seen at once, and whether a grid would show at that size.
Repeat size, fabric width and screens
The repeat size is chosen for the product and for the way the fabric is printed. Across the width, think in whole repeats: fabric is printed at a fixed width, and a repeat that divides that width evenly avoids a motif cut off at the selvedge. Apparel fabrics are often around 140 to 150 cm wide, while home-textile fabrics for bedding are often made more than two metres wide, so a large repeat has more room there.
Along the length, rotary screen printing sets a hard limit. Each colour is printed by a cylindrical screen, and the design repeats once per turn, so the repeat height has to be the screen’s circumference or divide into it exactly. A circumference of 64 cm is a common one, with larger screens for longer repeats. Flat screens limit the repeat by their size in the same way. Digital printing has no screen, so the repeat can be any size, as long as the file has enough resolution at print size.
Some printers ask for the tile and the repeat type, others for the full repeat as one rectangle. Check which one yours wants before you export.
Repeat types in MYTH
Make Seamless turns any design into a repeat in one of five types: Block, Half Drop, Brick, Horizontal and Vertical. It makes a new tile and keeps the original as it was, and it can also convert an existing repeat to another type.
Create Pattern in Normal mode and Abstract Creation take the same five types as a Repeat Mode, plus Placement Design for a single print that does not repeat, such as a T-shirt or scarf design. To check a repeat, open it in MYTH Edit: Preview as Tile shows the frame in each of the five types, with tile size, spacing and tile lines, and A3 Print Preview lays it out at real size with a centimetre ruler.
Diamond, ogee and tossed layouts can be drawn into a tile and then repeated as a block or a half drop. In MYTH Digi, the design archive, the Tile view shows any archived design as a Block, Half Drop, Brick, Horizontal or Vertical repeat.
