Auction backgrounds are usually small repeating images that tile to fill the page. We show how to remove the seams from the tiles when making your own.

Make a Seamless Repeating Background Tile

Background tiles are typically quite small, usually under 100 pixels wide (and also under 5k bytes), but some patterns repeat at a larger size, like 200 pixels. Larger repeating patterns should be fairly pale or they'll look too busy and may detract from the page. Tiles should not be used directly behind text, unless the pattern is extremely subtle, as they can make text difficult to read. Tiles are typically used as borders or as layers under solid colored cells that contain text.


For this example, We'll use the free MS Paint program that is available on all PCs. Find it at
    Start > Program Files > Accessories > Paint
 
Load your tile into Paint. This is the 86x72 tile we started with:



Make the workspace (white background) two or three times larger than the tile.
Use "Image > Attributes .." from the menu, or just grab onto the corner pullers.



Hint for later: Use the magnifying tool to zoom in as needed to fit corners and touch-up the pattern.


1. Cut  Use the cutout tool to drag the top half of the tile (it doesn't matter where you cut).

2. Move  it to the bottom and carefully fit the edges together.




3. Cut  Use the cutout tool to drag the left side of the tile.

4. Move  it to the right and fit carefully.


 
5. Edit This is the hard part. You'll need to dress up the edges in the middle to remove the apparent seam and to continue the pattern as best you can.

6. Add  You can cheat by using the zigzag cutout tool to copy and paste another portion of the pattern over the seam.

 

7. Done Done Editing.

8. Move Use "Edit > Select All" and move the tile to the upper left corner of the workspace to get rid of the white background. Click on the area outside of the dashed line to let go of the selection. Then pull in the lower right corner of the white workspace until only the tile is left.



9. Save Save the new tile. You may save it as a full quality BMP tile so that you can work on it more, or save it to a compressed JPG or GIF image for use as a background tile in your auction.



10. Revert If you prefer to have the original pattern in the middle of the tile, then repeat all the steps to bring the outside edges back in again. It doesn't matter where you make the cuts.

 

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More Auction Template Help Guides:
• How to select a Template
• The 10 Design Basics (series)
• Adding Sound to your Auction
• Adding Auction Backgrounds
• Make a Seamless Background Tile