tutorial on repeating patterns?

Does anyone have a *good* tutorial for repeating a texture or pattern? This is still the biggest hangup I have in the realm of graphics. I'd also love to know how to take a word, slant it on a 45 degree angle, and have it seamlessly repeat for a website background.

I've seen basic tutorials that really don't go into this type of thing. What would be really great is some kind of Photoshop plugin that does it automatically for you.

 

You could try this for the repeating pattern tutorial: Veerle's Blog

A repeating word would follow a similar format.

 

Sure, what you've got to do is make the actual image you want repeated first. Obviously.

Next, if it's a vector shape or text, you need to make it into a raster. Only pixel images work for repeating patterns. So next, simply select that area that you want repeating with the rectangular marque tool, and go to edit > define pattern. This will put this design in the patterns presets.

Next, go to your layer that you want to fill with the pattern. Click Shift+F5, or just use the Fill Tool. Select the fill type to be pattern, instead of the default "color" and voila

For complex patterns that need to be seamless, you need to use the offset filter. Read up on the offset filter and it becomes trivial.

Good Luck