Quicker reliable fix for Illustrator white line!!!! Helen, I'm a faithful follower both here and on Skillshare! (I hope you get notifications about older videos) About a month ago I became VERY frustrated with the white line on exported (jpg or png) patterns from Illustrator. I spent two days struggling to find an answer, and my method hasn't failed yet, and it's MUCH easier than yours. Drag out the pattern, just as you say. Highlight the no fill no stroke rectangle at the bottom of the pattern you've dragged out, note its size on the Transform panel, and make a new document that size. (If you have made the pattern yourself, you already know the size of the pattern swatch.) Your swatch will still be there in the new document, so drag out your pattern again, make the clipping mask according to your instructions, and align the whole thing to your artboard. ONLY ONE STEP MORE! Save As: PDF, and click the drop down box and choose High Quality PDF for printing (it's not the default option), and voila! It is always perfect. I have tested this over and over again! If your Print on Demand website doesn't take that kind of a PDF file, (Printful does) import your pdf into Photoshop and export it as png or jpg. IT WILL BE PERFECT. I'd love to see you make a video on this; there are many videos trying to solve this problem and none of their methods worked for me.
Thank you so much! Helen's video did a great job with the alignment troubleshooting (I never would have considered subpixels being an issue in vector software), but I was still getting the random breaks when exporting directly - even the same art on a duplicated artboard. It wasn't until I started exporting as a High-Res PDF, opening in Photoshop, and exporting as a PNG that the breaks stopped. It's really something that Adobe charges what they do with issues like this.
I have absolutely no need to save anything for Spoonflower but I always learn something new and cool when I watch your videos Helen. I'm Becoming quite the groupie! 😆 Thanks again for spending the time to make this video available, I learned new things as always.
Thank you so much! I tried other methods that were shorter, but didn't work for me (got some error that I couldn't directly create the artboard from the artwork). This method actually worked! :)
Hello Helen, thank you for your tips. I alway learn something new from your videos. Can you help me with something? How can I transform a rectangle repeat block ito a square repeat block? I ask this because Society6 needs a square repeat(min 5000px/5000px) for wallpaper and my pattern repeat bloc is rectangle ... I don't know if that makes sense but thank you very much. Have a nice day :)
Adrian, can you please send me the Society6 link that says it has to be 5000 x 5000px. I have done some searching but can't find it. BUT I do see that this 'square' requirement is a problem for a lot of people so I'd like to see if I can find a workaround for you. However, I do need to 'check my facts' so a link to that information will help me to investigate further. You can email me at helen@helenbradley.com
No I don't but anything that works to let you see if you have problems is great. You're ahead of the curve by actually checking - lots of people don't (but should).
Hello Helen, Great tips thankyou! If I want to create a Large, Medium, Small and Ditsy scale of my pattern do I export differently in Illustrator for each scale or do I adjust the same uploaded file in Spoonflower. Much Thanks.
This is a great question Janie. The issue with Spoonflower will be the size of the pattern swatch that you upload. Spoonflower won’t let you go below 150 dpi. So you are either will need to create a really large size patent swatch and then scale it down on Spoonflower or create different size swatches according to what do you want small medium or large. Basically you need to focus on the large size if you want to be able to create large medium and small from it.
At 100 pixels wide this would print at around 2/3 of an inch for the repeat. That’s really small. If it were me I would try making my pattern swatch larger and then scale it down at Spoonflower. There’s a chance that Spoonfloweris just not able to handle a pattern swatch that is so small.
@@janeharbison6904 hello jane! hope you are doing well, please let me know is it worth it selling on spoonflower, and does people still buy in this marketplace?
Does Photopea have the single marquee tool, or a MacGyver way of getting rid of that extra pixel row? I tried just using the rectangle but it's very frustrating to get it the right length but by 1 pixel!:)
Ok, so a MacGyver way is to make a fixed size selection the width (or height) of your document and one pixel in the other dimension. Then make a selection on the area to remove. Choose Select, Inverse and then Image > Crop. You can do this in Photoshop or in Photopea (I just did it in Photopea - it took a bit of zooming in to get it in the right place but it worked.
Hi Helen....just had this exact problem. Is there another option for checking for extra pixels besides in Photoshop....I don't have that subscription. Thank you!
Try Photopea, it is an online app (used via a browser) and the commands are pretty much a replica of Photoshop's so it should be super easy to do the check there.
Hi, this has been a big help! I have used it a few times successfully, but now on my latest project when I select the single row or column it won't let me crop. Do you know why this would happen? Thanks!
Hmmm I am not sure why. You can try to do this with the crop tool. Select the Crop tool and from the control bar at the top of the screen choose W x H x Resolution (instead of Ratio). Then set the width and height and resolution of the final pattern (ie minus that pixel). Now drag over the image just ensuring that the crop rectangle is in the right place so your extra pixel line is outside it. The crop and save and test. I don't like having to use the Crop tool because it's a bit harder to use but in this case it might be a good fall back technique for you when the other method fails. Hope this helps.
hi i am using illustrator for pattern design. I am having a problem with the no fill no stroke path which every pattern file has. the dimension of that path is not same its rectangle. I tried everything by checking file size to resetting workspace to reinstalling app, but the problem remains same. please help me and suggest what I can do to solve this problem.
I am not sure what you mean by 'the dimension of that path is not same its rectangle'. Can you explain more? And perhaps tell me where in the video everything is going wrong for you. This should be really easy to achieve and I am worried that it isn't working for you - you shouldn't have to reinstall Illustrator to get this to work.
And I do "swach" to the spoonflower I have to design it so that I can do a repeat? This question is important, for me and thank you in advance, who can answer me
Quicker reliable fix for Illustrator white line!!!! Helen, I'm a faithful follower both here and on Skillshare! (I hope you get notifications about older videos) About a month ago I became VERY frustrated with the white line on exported (jpg or png) patterns from Illustrator. I spent two days struggling to find an answer, and my method hasn't failed yet, and it's MUCH easier than yours. Drag out the pattern, just as you say. Highlight the no fill no stroke rectangle at the bottom of the pattern you've dragged out, note its size on the Transform panel, and make a new document that size. (If you have made the pattern yourself, you already know the size of the pattern swatch.) Your swatch will still be there in the new document, so drag out your pattern again, make the clipping mask according to your instructions, and align the whole thing to your artboard. ONLY ONE STEP MORE! Save As: PDF, and click the drop down box and choose High Quality PDF for printing (it's not the default option), and voila! It is always perfect. I have tested this over and over again! If your Print on Demand website doesn't take that kind of a PDF file, (Printful does) import your pdf into Photoshop and export it as png or jpg. IT WILL BE PERFECT. I'd love to see you make a video on this; there are many videos trying to solve this problem and none of their methods worked for me.
Amazing, thank you for this!
Thank you so much! Helen's video did a great job with the alignment troubleshooting (I never would have considered subpixels being an issue in vector software), but I was still getting the random breaks when exporting directly - even the same art on a duplicated artboard. It wasn't until I started exporting as a High-Res PDF, opening in Photoshop, and exporting as a PNG that the breaks stopped.
It's really something that Adobe charges what they do with issues like this.
Thank you, I had to read over and over what you meant, but it worked great. Perhaps you should make a RUclips video, hahaha.
had been looking all day to find a way to deliver patterns to clients who dont have acces to illustrator, thanks!
I’m so happy you found this video.
Every time I watch one of your videos, I learn something great!
Glad to hear it!
You are 'Golden' Helen Bradley! Golden I tell you!
How lovely of you to say.
As always, thank you so much, Helen! Your tutorials and classes have saved me.
You are so welcome!
Thank you so much is much more straight forward, amazing
I’m so glad you enjoyed this video
This video was just what I needed. Thanks!
Glad it helped!
I have absolutely no need to save anything for Spoonflower but I always learn something new and cool when I watch your videos Helen. I'm Becoming quite the groupie! 😆 Thanks again for spending the time to make this video available, I learned new things as always.
What a lovely thing to say Danielle. Thank you for your kind comment.
Thank you so much! I tried other methods that were shorter, but didn't work for me (got some error that I couldn't directly create the artboard from the artwork). This method actually worked! :)
Glad it helped!
Thank you so much for this video! I'd been struggling with exporting my patterns, watched soooo many videos and this one finally helped!
Glad it helped! There are some super strange videos on this topic out there.
hi! hope you're doing well, please let me know is it worth it selling on spoonflower, and does people still buy on this marketplace ???
Hello Helen, thank you for your tips. I alway learn something new from your videos. Can you help me with something? How can I transform a rectangle repeat block ito a square repeat block? I ask this because Society6 needs a square repeat(min 5000px/5000px) for wallpaper and my pattern repeat bloc is rectangle ... I don't know if that makes sense but thank you very much. Have a nice day :)
Adrian, can you please send me the Society6 link that says it has to be 5000 x 5000px. I have done some searching but can't find it. BUT I do see that this 'square' requirement is a problem for a lot of people so I'd like to see if I can find a workaround for you. However, I do need to 'check my facts' so a link to that information will help me to investigate further. You can email me at helen@helenbradley.com
Great. Thank you
You are welcome Diane!
Do you use the offset filter to check for errors at all? Any draw backs with that method? Thanks
No I don't but anything that works to let you see if you have problems is great. You're ahead of the curve by actually checking - lots of people don't (but should).
very informative thanks.
I’m so I pleased it was helpful to you.
Amazing! Thank you, Helen!
Cheers Julie
Hello Helen, Great tips thankyou! If I want to create a Large, Medium, Small and Ditsy scale of my pattern do I export differently in Illustrator for each scale or do I adjust the same uploaded file in Spoonflower. Much Thanks.
This is a great question Janie. The issue with Spoonflower will be the size of the pattern swatch that you upload. Spoonflower won’t let you go below 150 dpi. So you are either will need to create a really large size patent swatch and then scale it down on Spoonflower or create different size swatches according to what do you want small medium or large. Basically you need to focus on the large size if you want to be able to create large medium and small from it.
@@HelenBradley ok so this is telling me my ‘ditsies’ are too small at only 100px wide despite this being the scale I want for the pattern. Hmmm.
At 100 pixels wide this would print at around 2/3 of an inch for the repeat. That’s really small. If it were me I would try making my pattern swatch larger and then scale it down at Spoonflower. There’s a chance that Spoonfloweris just not able to handle a pattern swatch that is so small.
@@HelenBradley Thanks Helen, ok I will scale down at Spoonflower.
@@janeharbison6904 hello jane! hope you are doing well, please let me know is it worth it selling on spoonflower, and does people still buy in this marketplace?
Does Photopea have the single marquee tool, or a MacGyver way of getting rid of that extra pixel row? I tried just using the rectangle but it's very frustrating to get it the right length but by 1 pixel!:)
Ok, so a MacGyver way is to make a fixed size selection the width (or height) of your document and one pixel in the other dimension. Then make a selection on the area to remove. Choose Select, Inverse and then Image > Crop. You can do this in Photoshop or in Photopea (I just did it in Photopea - it took a bit of zooming in to get it in the right place but it worked.
@@HelenBradley THANK YOU!!!!
Hi Helen....just had this exact problem. Is there another option for checking for extra pixels besides in Photoshop....I don't have that subscription. Thank you!
Try Photopea, it is an online app (used via a browser) and the commands are pretty much a replica of Photoshop's so it should be super easy to do the check there.
Hi, this has been a big help! I have used it a few times successfully, but now on my latest project when I select the single row or column it won't let me crop. Do you know why this would happen? Thanks!
Hmmm I am not sure why. You can try to do this with the crop tool. Select the Crop tool and from the control bar at the top of the screen choose W x H x Resolution (instead of Ratio). Then set the width and height and resolution of the final pattern (ie minus that pixel). Now drag over the image just ensuring that the crop rectangle is in the right place so your extra pixel line is outside it. The crop and save and test.
I don't like having to use the Crop tool because it's a bit harder to use but in this case it might be a good fall back technique for you when the other method fails.
Hope this helps.
@@HelenBradley Thank you! I will try this.
Hello ma'am do you have any series on logo designing ???
Great question Umer. I am sorry but I don't have any series on logo designing.
hi i am using illustrator for pattern design. I am having a problem with the no fill no stroke path which every pattern file has. the dimension of that path is not same its rectangle. I tried everything by checking file size to resetting workspace to reinstalling app, but the problem remains same. please help me and suggest what I can do to solve this problem.
I am not sure what you mean by 'the dimension of that path is not same its rectangle'. Can you explain more? And perhaps tell me where in the video everything is going wrong for you. This should be really easy to achieve and I am worried that it isn't working for you - you shouldn't have to reinstall Illustrator to get this to work.
And I do "swach" to the spoonflower I have to design it so that I can do a repeat? This question is important, for me and thank you in advance, who can answer me
Yes, it needs to be a seemless repeating tile
Thanks for chiming in here Deborah.
Thanks
No problem