In this tutorial we’ll show a quick way to make an abstract pattern in Photoshop. The blurred background we used on our preview image can be found Here. Better yet you can make your own blurred background by using Gaussian blur (Filter -> Blur -> Gaussian Blur) on a colorful image like a sunset photo.

You can also download this as an Action from our freebie section. The action has 3 premade patterns sizes big (cell size of 170), medium (120) and small (60).

Step 1

Once you got your image ready, let’s start by doublicating the background image twice. Choose the top layer and press Ctrl/Cmd+T
to use the transform tool. Set the horizontal skew value to 45. Press enter when ready.

Then we are going to add the Mosaic filter (Filter -> Pixelate -> Mosaic). Choose size that suits your image and the style. For the large image that I’m using I chose cell size of 169.

We are going to use the transform tool to adjust the horizontal skew back to what it was. Select the transform tool (Ctrl/Cmd+T) and this time enter -45 in the horizontal skew. Set the layer opacity to 50%.

Step 2

For the middle layer we are going to do the same but with opposite transform settings.

Choose the middle layer and press (Ctrl/Cmd+T) this time enter -45 in the horizontal skew. Add your Mosaic effect (Filter -> Pixelate -> Mosaic) and flip it back (Ctrl/Cmd+T) and enter 45 in the horizontal skew.

Finishing Touches

Zoom into your image and see that the edges are aligned, if not use the arrow keys to nudge the layer until they are lined up.

You can enhance your pattern several ways. Here are few ideas:

– Add adjustment layers. Try hue/saturation, levels, color fill (set on soft light) or photo filters.

– Add noise filter. Create a new layer, turn it into a smart object, fill it with black. Add noise (Filter -> Noise -> Add Noise). Set the layers blending mode to screen. Turning the layer to smart object allows you to use smart filters meaning that you can go back any time and adjust the noise settings.

– Add a layer mask. Group the 2 new layers and add a layer mask to the group. Paint with big black soft brush in the center of the image. Have the background image visible. Now you have the pattern fading nicely to the edges.

I hope you found this tutorial helpful.