I have 2 situations where I would like to fill a shape with a repetitive pattern.

A simple example is a rectangle I want to fill with a pattern of lines drawn with a specified thickness, interval and angle - relative to an edge.

Some sort of 'Fill Pattern' for objects seems like the sort of function I need, where I can 'Pick' from a selection of common predefined 'patterns, eg. diagonals, squares, chevrons.

I explored the Pattern & Swatch in the 'Fill & Stroke' dialog, Tiling, and Filters, but none seemed to easily offer this. (I see 'Tiling' can probably do this but it looks quite complicated process just to do a simple 'Fill with this pattern')

Does anyone know an easy way to do this ?

A more complex example is to depict a 'roof covered with clay roof tiles of user-defined size/colour/transparency'. I just want to fill the roof rectangle with a pattern depicting clay roof tiles, and where I can subsequently alter the roof dimensions by dragging or otherwise editing, and the 'fill pattern' automatically adjusts to the new size. Another variant: depiction of a corrugated roof.

Thanking you in advance.

Hi paul481,
It seems you have already explored all the options available, and now it's just a matter of choosing which one would work best. If it was simply a stripe pattern, of course you've already found many different variations under pattern fill. But the roof tile is a little more complicated. I would probably either use pattern fill or tiled clones. And from those, I'd probably choose pattern fill. But that's based on my preference and skill level. I have played around with the Tiled Clones, but I also found it hard to use.

You can draw your own pattern, for example a single tile, or a small group of tiles (roof tiles). And then do object to pattern. Or alternatively use tiled clones. With tiled clones, you can automatically add some randomness (settings in dialog) which one would normally see. For example some tiles slightly lighter or darker, maybe some slightly larger or smaller, maybe some are slightly tilted. Or if you use pattern fill, you can draw the randomness into a small group of tiles.

As for the corrugated metal roof, I'd have to give that a little more thought. You could still use either method. But I think I might just draw it. For example, draw one or 2....ha, I don't know what to call it....I guess wrinkles, or waves lol. I would draw one or 2 and then clone, and use a grid to place them accurately.

Maybe someone else would have a more clever way to do it? That's about all I can think of

Hi-

I have an article on my blog:
http://www.silent9.com/blog/archives/14 ... scape.html

I give an example of creating a scalloped pattern that you can use for inspiration.

-Rob A>

Oooo, nice Rob!

Sorry for late reply... still have no internet locally. Thanks for the suggestions which I will try.

I am new at this but I think . . . try creating your pattern and then use the object clip?