How to create colorways for a surface pattern collection

A surface pattern collection is a group of patterns that belong together: one main print and several simpler ones, all in one palette. Each pattern is then offered in a few colorways, so a client can pick the version that suits their product and season.

This guide covers how to plan those colorways so the whole collection still matches. If you're new to the word, start with what is a colorway.

Colorway, coordinate and collection

These three words get mixed up, so here is how they differ:

Term	What it means	Example
Colorway	The same pattern in a different set of colors (UK spelling: colourway)	A floral on cream, and the same floral on navy
Coordinate	A different pattern designed to go with the main one	A small leaf print that uses the floral's colors
Collection	The main print plus its coordinates, in one palette and theme	Floral, leaf print, stripe and dot

Educator CatCoq describes the parts of a collection this way (CatCoq):

• The hero is "the main motif in the collection", either a standalone illustration or a pattern.
• Secondary patterns are more complex prints that support the hero and follow the theme.
• A blender is "a simple pattern that fits in with the rest of the collection" and is much less complex than the secondary patterns.

When you make colorways, you make them for the whole set. A navy colorway of the hero needs a navy-friendly version of each coordinate too.

Start from the hero palette

Plan the palette before you design the coordinates, and take it from the hero.

Designer Elizabeth Silver counted the colors in one of her collections and found 14, counting white. Cutting them to 6 colors "used consistently across every pattern made a massive difference" (Elizabeth Silver). She also suggests making sure the hero includes every color in the collection at least once.

1. Pick 6 to 10 colors from the hero: the ground, the main motif colors and one or two accents.
2. Write down a hex code for each one.
3. Use only those exact codes in every coordinate and blender.
4. Keep blenders simple. CatCoq suggests two or three colors for a blender palette (CatCoq).

Tip: Turn the hero to grayscale before you go further. If the motifs disappear into the ground in gray, they'll look flat in every colorway. The colorway guide shows the quick Photoshop check.

Plan light, dusty and dark grounds

The ground covers the most area, so changing it changes the look of a print more than anything else. A simple plan for each print:

• One light ground, such as ivory, mint or powder blue.
• One dusty or mid ground, such as sage, mauve or clay.
• One dark ground, such as navy, wine or charcoal.

A client who sees one of each can picture the collection on different products and in different seasons. There's no fixed count of colorways per print; the colorway guide explains how to decide.

Example: A collection of a hero floral, a leaf coordinate and a dot blender, each in light, dusty and dark, gives 3 patterns × 3 colorways = 9 files. Planning the grounds first means the nine files match across the set.

Preview ground colorways fast

Trying grounds by hand on a finished, textured print takes a long time. Color Variation does the first round for you.

1. Upload the finished hero print (JPG, PNG or WEBP).
2. Colorways appear in light, dusty and dark groups. Each one changes the ground and shows the color name and hex code.
3. Click "New colors" on a group to see more options.
4. Keep the grounds that fit your palette, and download them at full size or use "Download all".

The motif keeps its colors exactly, and so do edges, texture and transparent areas. Downloads keep the original's pixel size and DPI. The free colorway generator guide walks through every button.

Color Variation changes the ground only. When a colorway also needs new motif colors, change those in your design program on the few versions you decide to keep.

Keep the palette exact across the set

A preview tool helps you choose a ground. Your collection still needs every pattern on the same exact color.

1. Pick the ground you like from the hero's colorways and note its hex code.
2. Set that exact hex as the ground in your source files for the coordinates and blenders.
3. If you also made colorways of the coordinates, compare their hex codes with the hero's and replace any "near" match with the hero's code.
4. Turn each finished colorway to grayscale and check the motifs still stand out.

Warning: Two grounds that look the same on screen can have different hex codes. A licensing client or factory will treat them as two colors, so make them match before you send anything.

Present the colorway sheet

A clear sheet helps a licensing client or a factory decide quickly. In Color Variation, "Download chart" puts every colorway on one sheet with names and codes. That's a good record of what you tried.

For the client, make a clean sheet of only your picks:

1. Put the hero large at the top, with coordinates and blenders below.
2. Show each colorway as the same crop, at the same size, in a grid.
3. Under each one, write the pattern name, colorway name and the hex codes for the ground and motif colors.
4. Add the collection name and your contact details at the bottom.

Note: Hex codes are screen colors. Factories and fabric printers approve color on a printed sample, so treat the hex as a reference. The colorway generator guide covers strike-offs and Pantone references.

The manual route for vector files

If you design in Illustrator, Recolor Artwork (Edit > Edit Colors > Recolor Artwork) swaps colors across a pattern from one panel. The Pitter Pattern tutorial notes that it lets you "change the colours of the pattern as a whole instead of having to recolour each element on its own" (Pitter Pattern).

To change one color inside a pattern swatch, double-click the swatch in the Swatches panel, select the element, pick the new fill color and click Done (RetroSupply).

Recolor Artwork works on vector shapes. For a painted or textured raster print, previewing grounds with Color Variation and then refining in Photoshop is usually faster.

Common mistakes

• Choosing coordinate colors by eye, so they end up a few shades off the hero.
• Giving the hero three colorways and the coordinates only one.
• Using only light grounds, or only dark ones.
• Letting a blender use more colors than it needs, so it competes with the hero.
• Using different crops on the sheet, so the client compares crops instead of colors.

What to do next

Pick the finished hero print from your next collection and upload it to Color Variation. Keep one light, one dusty and one dark ground, note their hex codes, and set those exact codes in each coordinate before you build your colorway sheet.