It may be a little early for Christmas but it’s never too early for snow. Here’s a set of free vector snowflakes that you can use to decorate your seasonal designs. As always, you can use them in your personal and commercial work.

There’s a choice of downloads this time:

• The first contains vector versions of the Snowflakes (an EPS file that you can load into Adobe Illustrator or your favorite vector editor)
• The second version contains 9 24 bit transparent PNG files that you can use right away

Cool, how can I use the download?

• You can use the downloads for personal or commercial projects
• A link back here would be appreciated but it is not required
• You may not sell or redistribute the downloads in any way, shape, or form
• You may not create derivatives of the downloads for resale or distribution
• Visit the License and usage info page for full Terms and Conditions of use

Download Vectors
Download PNGs

As always, they’re seamless so they’ll repeat for ever and ever. In the download you’ll find:

• 3 EPS files that you can load into Adobe Illustrator (or your favorite vector editor) and edit to change the scale, colors etc.
• 3 PNG thumbnails that you can use right away in your web designs or load them into your Photoshop pattern library (Edit->Define Pattern)

And here’s a sample of each free pattern:

Go forth and funkify :D

Cool, how can I use the download?

• You can use the downloads for personal or commercial projects
• A link back here would be appreciated but it is not required
• You may not sell or redistribute the downloads in any way, shape, or form
• You may not create derivatives of the downloads for resale or distribution
• Visit the License and usage info page for full Terms and Conditions of use

Download Now

It’s almost that time of year when the spooks, witches, ghouls and goblins come out to play. Here you’ll find lots of high-quality free vectors to help with your Halloween designs. Moohoohaha!

• Horror Words
  

  

• Alfred Doodle Set 8: the Halloween issue part I
  

  

• Mini Monster Pack
  

  

• Smashing Pumpkins: A Free Halloween Vector Icon Set
  

  

• Free Halloween Vector Pumpkins
  

  

• Cute Halloween Free Clipart Samples
  

  

• Jack O’ Lantern
  

  

• Monster Doodle
  

  

• Skull Vector Pack 1
  

  

• Free Vector Halloween Heads
  

  

• Free Vector Skulls
  

  

• Free Creepy Vector Trees
  

  

• Witch Character Designs
  

  

• Free Vector Pumpkin Patterns – Halloween Jack O’ Lanterns
  

  

• Free illustration of the month: Owl in a Halloween night (free for October 2009 only)
  

  

Have we missed a great free Magento theme? Let us know in the comments.

I have a few more of these Halloween themed patterns including witches and ghosts. If you’d like to see these be sure to leave a comment and let me know!

The download contains…

• 3 EPS files that you can load into Adobe Illustrator (or your favorite vector editor) and edit to change the scale, colors etc.
• 3 PNG thumbnails that you can use right away in your web designs or load them into your Photoshop pattern library (Edit->Define Pattern)

And here’s a spooky preview of each pattern:

Happy Halloween!

Cool, how can I use the download?

• You can use the downloads for personal or commercial projects
• A link back here would be appreciated but it is not required
• You may not sell or redistribute the downloads in any way, shape, or form
• You may not create derivatives of the downloads for resale or distribution
• Visit the License and usage info page for full Terms and Conditions of use

If you don’t need the vector patterns you can find pixel versions on Pattern8.com

Download Now

Introduction

I’ve been making patterns in Adobe Illustrator for a few years. During that time I’ve developed my own methods for creating patterns. If you’ve ever tried creating complex repeat patterns in Illustrator then you know how time consuming and fiddly the process can be. I’m always looking for new ways to improve my workflow. The kind folks from Artlandia got in touch and gave me the opportunity to test their SymmetryWorks plugin.

I’ve tried an older version of their plugin in the past so I was excited to try all the new features in Version 5 of SymmetryWorks.

What is SymmetryWorks?

Artlandia SymmetryWorks is an Adobe Illustrator plug-in that you can use to create repeat patterns. It can automatically create a repeat pattern from an Illustrator object. All the popular pattern types are supported like half drop, diamond, stripe, pinwheel etc. When you switch between the different pattern types you can see a live preview of your pattern.

Installation

Installation is a piece of cake. Just drop the SymmetryWorks.aip file into your Adobe Illustrator Plug-ins folder.

New Feature – Insertion Mode

With the new insertion mode, you can draw freehand into the pattern using any of the Illustrator drawing tools or a Wacom tablet. The plug-in automatically puts them in repeat and shows a live preview.

Watch Video

New Feature – Pattern swatch export

Save your SymmetryWorks pattern as an Illustrator swatch with a click. The swatch immediately becomes available as a seamless pattern in the Swatches panel.

Watch Video

New Feature – Support for Blends

You can use Illustrator blends in repeat, edit them and see your pattern instantly updated.

Watch Video

New Feature – Support for Compound Shapes

SymmetryWorks now supports compound shapes. You can edit compound shapes interactively, right inside patterns. A great feature for making complex tessellations.

Watch Video

New Feature – Engineered Designs

You can use symbols to create bands, corners, scarves, kerchiefs, bandannas, tablecloths, carpets, rugs etc. Combine filler parts with a centerpiece and edges in one SymmetryWorks pattern.

Complete Feature Set

There are lots more new features. Visit the SymmetryWorks plug-in page for more details.

Conclusion

SymmetryWorks 5 is a powerful tool for creating repeat patterns in Adobe Illustrator. You can quickly dive in and create a repeat pattern in seconds. To get the most out of the plug-in you’ll need to invest some time reading the manual. It’s really comprehensive and weighs in at a fairly hefty 145 pages. That’s pretty big for a plug-in manual but it’s well written and easy to follow.

At the time of writing, SymmetryWorks 5 costs $249 for the downloadable version. That’s a great price for such a comprehensive plug-in.

Purchase SymmetryWorks

You can purchase and download SymmetryWorks 5 from the Artlandia Site. Just to let you know, if you purchase using this link you’ll be directly supporting Patternhead.

Coming Soon

Look out for a free pattern set created with the SymmetryWorks 5 plug-in. It’s coming this way soon!

Magento is a powerful, new ecommerce platform. It’s open source so you can download and use it for free. It’s only been around since 2008 but already has over a million downloads. As with most things, there’s a bit of a learning curve when theming for Magento. To speed things up, here you’ll find 21 free Magento themes that you can download and use for your own projects. Be sure to check the compatibility and license for each theme.

• FreePOP – Magento Theme
  

  

• Telescope Theme
  

  

• HM Modern Theme (Brown Skin)
  

  

• Kalocsa Magento Template – Free
  

  

• Outdoor Template
  

  

• mCommerce – iPhone Optimized Theme
  

  

• HM Modern Theme (White Skin)
  

  

• Free Magento Classic Theme
  

  

• Girly Store Theme
  

  

• Cogzidel Free Magento Template
  

  

• Modern Theme
  

  

• MageSupport – Free Magento Theme
  

  

• Blank Theme
  

  

• Basic Magento template – Free
  

  

• Everson, a Magento Theme
  

  

• Electronics Store 3
  

  

• Refresh Template for Magento
  

  

• Linen Magento Theme
  

  

• Pet Store
  

  

• Blue Skin
  

  

• Yoast Blank SEO Theme – submitted by Axel Giqueaux
  

  

Have we missed a great free Magento theme? Let us know in the comments.

As always, they’re free to use for your personal and commercial design work. In the download you’ll find these files:

• An EPS file that you can load into Adobe Illustrator (or your favorite vector editor) and edit to change the scale, colors etc.
• A PNG thumbnail that you can use right away in your web designs or load them into your Photoshop pattern library (Edit->Define Pattern)

Here’s a sample of the pattern:

I really like this simple graphic pattern. What do you think?

Cool, how can I use the download?

• You can use the downloads for personal or commercial projects
• A link back here would be appreciated but it is not required
• You may not sell or redistribute the downloads in any way, shape, or form
• You may not create derivatives of the downloads for resale or distribution
• Visit the License and usage info page for full Terms and Conditions of use

Download Now

Free to use for your personal and commercial design work. In the download you’ll find these files:

• An EPS file that you can load into Adobe Illustrator (or your favorite vector editor) and edit to change the scale, colors etc.
• A PNG thumbnail that you can use right away in your web designs or load them into your Photoshop pattern library (Edit->Define Pattern)

Here’s a sample of the pattern:

Do you like this pattern? What would you like to see next?

Cool, how can I use the download?

• You can use the downloads for personal or commercial projects
• A link back here would be appreciated but it is not required
• You may not sell or redistribute the downloads in any way, shape, or form
• You may not create derivatives of the downloads for resale or distribution
• Visit the License and usage info page for full Terms and Conditions of use

Download Now

As always, they’re free to use in your personal and commercial work. In the download you’ll find these files:

• 3 EPS files that you can load into Adobe Illustrator (or your favorite vector editor) and edit to change the scale, colors etc.
• 3 PNG thumbs that you can use right away in your web designs or load them into your Photoshop pattern library (Edit->Define Pattern)

Here’s a sample of each pattern:

I really like the mono color scheme. Makes them super useful for Photoshop layer effects. What do you think?

Cool, how can I use the download?

• You can use the downloads for personal or commercial projects
• A link back here would be appreciated but it is not required
• You may not sell or redistribute the downloads in any way, shape, or form
• You may not create derivatives of the downloads for resale or distribution
• Visit the License and usage info page for full Terms and Conditions of use

Download Now

Here’s a set of free vector design elements that you can use in your personal or commercial work. Lots of uses for these. You can add your own text to these to make “sale” or “new” banners for a store. I’m sure you can think of loads more exciting things to use these for. If you like em, let me know in the comments.

In the download you’ll find:

• An EPS files that you can load into Adobe Illustrator (or your favorite vector editor) and edit to change the scale, colors etc.
• A 24 bit transparent PNG file that you can use right away (1000 x 1106 pixels)

Cool, how can I use the download?

• You can use the downloads for personal or commercial projects
• A link back here would be appreciated but it is not required
• You may not sell or redistribute the downloads in any way, shape, or form
• You may not create derivatives of the downloads for resale or distribution
• Visit the License and usage info page for full Terms and Conditions of use

Download Now