The Live Wallpaper fills a designated area with copies of the selected artwork. The Xtream Path 2 panel offers 17 different patterns of wallpaper, based on the International Union of Crystallography (IUC) standards.
You can re-edit the original object, and the effect will be updated automatically.
The unit from a Wallpaper can be transferred to Illustrator’s 'Pattern Editing Mode' and save in the 'Swatches' panel.
Example:
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From the sample file live_wallpaper_01.ai
- Create a new document (set Units as Points) from “Illustrator > File > New…” menu.
- Select “Illustrator > Window > XtreamPath2 > Live Wallpaper (Crystalline Pattern)” menu. “XtreamPath2: Live Wallpaper (Crystalline Pattern)” panel will open.
- Create an ellipse on the document’s artboard. Use Illustrator’s “Ellipse Tool” and draw an ellipse with Width as 50pt, Height as 30pt. Set the Fill Color to a Linear Gradient, the Stroke Color to Black, and the Stroke Weight to 1pt.
- Select the Ellipse.
- From the panel menu (located on the upper right corner), select “Default Settings.”
- Click “Apply” button on the panel.
- Change the Size, Fill, and Stroke on the Ellipse.
- Change settings on the panel by referring to the following paragraph.
Setting items:
Pattern
If you select one of 17 buttons, pattern diagrams for the selected pattern will be shown on the right side. In the pattern diagrams, the red colored area indicates the clipping area and the outline indicate the unit (rectangle, square, rhomboid, or hexagon). The clipping area is the minimum unit which forms the unit. You can also select a pattern from the pull-down menu (IUC Notation).Area
Specify the range for displaying the pattern.Offset
The setting will be active when you choose the pattern which uses the rectangular or square unit.
You can specify the amount by the row or column and set the relative size to the unit.Clipping Bounds (Group Box)
Specify the clipping method, position, and size of the region for the minimum unit which forms the unit. 'Clipping' option selects whether to cut off from 'Clipping' or not or clip to mask.
While controlling this menu, please select 'Show Bounds' option. The region and its center are displayed by the guides, and the color can be changed from Illustrator’s 'Preferences.'
'Reset' button reverts the settings on Clipping Bounds (Group Box) to default settings.
The absolute size for clipping bounds on the document depends on the minimum rectangular which includes selected object.NOTE: For the size setting on Clipping Bounds, the horizontal and vertical values can be specified individually, or these two values may link together, depending on the pattern.
Overlap (Group Box)
The setting will be active when 'Clipping' is set to 'No.'
It controls the direction (left and right, top and bottom) of overlaps and stack order within a single unit.
'Reverse inside Unit' option reverses stack order within the unit.Live Update
Updating the Artboard while you work can result in slow screen redraw times, especially when Live Wallpaper is creating a high number of copies. Unchecking this option leaves the selected object unchanged until you click the Apply button. When checked, Live Update will automatically apply the Live Wallpaper settings as you make changes.Expand/Release/Apply
The Expand button creates individual objects from each of the copies created by Live Wallpaper. The objects will be grouped. The Release button removes the Wallpaper effect. The Apply button applies the current settings to selected objects.Save to Swatches panel as AI pattern…
Enter Illustrator’s 'Pattern Editing Mode.’ The intention is to save a Wallpaper as Illustrator pattern to the Swatches panel and reuse it. While on this mode, a single unit object that makes a wallpaper is passed to Illustrator’s 'Pattern Editing Mode,’ and will display as the default tile layout (e.g. 5x5 grid) on the editing document.
Illustrator’s 'Pattern Options' panel opens simultaneously and enables to set the shape of the unit (Rectangle, Rhombus, Hexagon) and other settings depending on the clipping condition.
If you enter the editing mode, the right side of 'XtreamPath2: Live Wallpaper' expands and shows the hint.
Please refer to the hint if you want to set the pattern in the editing mode to the same tile layout in the Wallpaper.
In the hint section, the correspondence content will be displayed depending on the shape of the unit you are using.
Same as the normal pattern editing, you can customize settings other than the setting from the hint and edit the object itself. It will have no impact on the original 'Live Wallpaper' object.
While in the editing mode, the settings on 'Live Wallpaper' panel will be inactive.
Here is an example of using this option.
- Open the sample file live_wallpaper_01.ai. The artboard contains above Wallpaper.
- Select the Wallpaper on the artboard. Live Wallpaper has been already applied. Use Illustrator’s 'Selection Tool' and click anywhere on the Wallpaper. The original ellipse will be selected.
- Click 'Save to Swatches panel as AI pattern…' button on 'Live Wallpaper' panel. Illustrator will enter 'Pattern Editing Mode.’
- The right side of 'Live Wallpaper' panel expands, and the hint will be displayed. The content of the hint will change depending on settings from the Wallpaper.
- Set Illustrator’s 'Pattern Options' panel by following the hint A.
The reason for selecting 'Tile Type' to 'Hex by Row' is that the shape of the single unit from the Wallpaper is a regular hexagon which can stick together in the horizontal direction. - Follow the hint B and name the pattern and save it. Then exit from 'Pattern Editing Mode.’
- Use Illustrator’s 'Artboards' panel, create a new artboard and draw an Ellipse.
- For the Fill Color of the Ellipse, select the pattern created in step 7 from Illustrator’s 'Swatches' panel.
From the sample file live_wallpaper_02.ai
TIP: If you duplicate an object using a pattern on the different document, the pattern will also be duplicated on the 'Swatches' panel. For how to handle 'Swatch Library,’ please refer to Illustrator’s help.
Panel Menu
The Panel menu is accessed by clicking the icon in the upper right corner of the panel.
You can reset the panel settings to 'Default Settings' or name the current settings and save as the preset menu.
For how to use the preset menu, please refer to 'Preset Menu.’