🎯 Design
Spoonflower Seamless Repeat File Spec for Surface Designers: Tile Size Math at 150 DPI, Basic vs Half Drop vs Half Brick Repeats, Photoshop Offset and Illustrator Pattern Tool Setup, Scale Variants, Color Checks, and Proof Swatches
Prepare a surface pattern so it prints seamlessly on Spoonflower fabric and wallpaper: tile size math at 150 DPI, the right repeat type for the motif, step by step seam building in Photoshop or Illustrator, large, medium, and small scale versions, color checks against printed swatches because colors shift by fabric, and a proofing and listing checklist before selling.
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Prompt
Act as a surface pattern designer who sells fabric and wallpaper designs on Spoonflower, builds repeats in Photoshop and Illustrator, and has learned from printed swatches that a seam you cannot see on screen shows up across a full yard. Inputs: - Motif description, style, and how dense the layout is: [Motif] - Repeat you have in mind, or "advise": [RepeatType] - Products you want to offer (quilting cotton, apparel knit, linen, wallpaper, home decor): [Products] - Intended scale in real inches, such as motif height on the fabric: [ScaleTargets] - Palette with hex codes and any colors you love that may print dull: [Palette] - Software you use: [Software] - Output format: [Format] Generate: 1. Tile size math for ScaleTargets at 150 DPI, which Spoonflower recommends: inches times 150 equals pixels. Give the tile in inches and pixels, and how many repeats fit across a fabric width you confirm in the product listing. 2. Repeat choice for Motif and RepeatType: basic (block) for grids and plaids, half drop for organic florals because it hides rows, half brick for horizontal layouts, mirror for symmetrical damask looks, and center for placement prints. Explain whether to build the drop into the tile yourself or use Spoonflower's repeat setting. 3. Seam building in Software: in Photoshop, Filter, Other, Offset with Wrap Around by half the width and half the height, then fill the cross gaps; in Illustrator, Object, Pattern, Make, with Brick by Column at a 1/2 offset for a half drop. Include a check at 25 percent zoom across a 3 by 3 grid of tiles for tangents, gaps, and lines of motifs. 4. Scale variants for Products: a hero scale, a medium, and a small coordinate, each as its own file at the right pixel size, never upscaled from a smaller file. 5. Color from Palette: work in RGB, compare each hex to a printed Spoonflower color reference if you own one, flag very bright or neon colors and large dark areas that may print differently, and adjust on the swatch, not on the monitor. 6. Export: file type, color mode, and a note to "confirm current file size limits in Spoonflower help". 7. Proof plan: order test swatches on each fabric in Products before selling, and list what to check (seams, scale against a ruler, color, white areas on wallpaper). 8. A marketplace listing draft: design title, a short description that names the motif and scale, and tags that describe subject, style, color, and use. Constraints: - Do not invent fabric widths, prices, or limits; ask the user to confirm them on the product page. - Never upscale a tile to change scale; rebuild from vector or high resolution art. No em dashes.
Instructions
Replace every [bracket] with your details before running. Works on ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini.
Generated Output
This image was generated using the prompt above.

Examples
Example Input
Motif: loose watercolor lemons with leaves and small blossoms on a cream ground, medium density, scanned at 600 DPI RepeatType: advise Products: quilting cotton, linen cotton canvas for cushions, wallpaper ScaleTargets: lemons about 2.5 inches tall on fabric, larger on wallpaper Palette: cream F6F0E1, lemon F2C230, leaf 5E8C4A, blossom white FFFFFF, shadow 3B4A2F Software: Photoshop 2025 Format: spec sheet with steps and checklist
Example Output
1) TILE MATH (150 DPI) | Version | Tile | Pixels | Lemon height | | Fabric hero | 12 x 12 in | 1800 x 1800 | about 2.5 in | | Wallpaper | 24 x 24 in | 3600 x 3600 | about 5 in | | Small coordinate | 6 x 6 in | 900 x 900 | about 1.25 in | Your 600 DPI scans give enough detail for the 24 inch wallpaper tile without upscaling. Confirm each fabric's printable width on its product page, then divide by the tile width to see repeats across. 2) REPEAT CHOICE Half drop. Scattered lemons in a basic repeat line up in visible rows; a half drop staggers each column by half a tile. Upload the single tile and choose the half drop repeat setting on Spoonflower, but check the staggered side seams first (step 5). 3) SEAM BUILDING IN PHOTOSHOP 2025 1. New document 1800 x 1800 px at 150 ppi, RGB, cream F6F0E1 background. 2. Place lemons in the middle, leaving the edges empty. 3. Filter, Other, Offset: horizontal 900, vertical 900, Wrap Around. 4. Fill the cross shaped gap with lemons and blossoms, keeping them off the new edges. 5. Half drop seam test: on a 3600 x 3600 canvas, place the tile 2 by 2 with the right column moved down 900 px. Fix any lemon that collides or leaves a hole along the column seam in the source tile, then rebuild the test. If this gets fiddly, rebuild the layout in Illustrator with Object, Pattern, Make, Brick by Column, 1/2 offset, which keeps half drop seams live while you edit. 6. Check: view a 3 by 3 grid at 25 percent zoom. Look for lemons kissing at seams, empty diagonal lanes, and leaves cut on a straight line. 4) SCALE VARIANTS Build each version from the original layers at its own size. Rescale the placed smart objects, not the flattened tile. 5) COLOR - Lemon F2C230 is bright; it may print slightly warmer or duller on canvas. Compare to a printed color reference if you have one. - Shadow 3B4A2F only in small details; large dark areas can look uneven on cotton. - Blossom white FFFFFF prints as the bare fabric. On linen cotton canvas it will look slightly natural, which suits the design. 6) EXPORT Flatten a copy, save as PNG or TIFF, RGB, 150 ppi. Confirm current file size limits in Spoonflower help. 7) PROOF PLAN Order test swatches on quilting cotton, linen cotton canvas, and a wallpaper sample. [ ] No visible seams across the swatch [ ] Lemon height measured with a ruler matches the table [ ] Lemon yellow is not greenish on canvas [ ] Cream ground reads warm, not gray, on wallpaper 8) LISTING DRAFT Title: Watercolor Lemon Grove Half Drop, Cream Description: Loose watercolor lemons with leaves and blossoms on warm cream. Lemons about 2.5 inches tall on fabric; see coordinates for smaller and larger scales. Tags: lemons, citrus, watercolor, botanical, summer, kitchen, cream, yellow, cottagecore, quilting