This design only needed a small amount of editing in Photoshop to create a final version I was please with. Most of the design was create through experimentation with Kaleidoscope apps on my ipad.
While playing with the app Kaleidoscope Camera by Binary Noise Ltd. on my iPad, I discovered that the play of daylight and shadow on the dimensional fabric of my solid colored peach comforter and dark red pillows created interesting shapes.
I played with many different compositions, saving those I liked to my iPad camera roll. Next I opened them with the app Kaleidomatic by Stuffmatic and played with them in more complex compositions. You can find instructions for using this app at Kaleidomatic.com. The following are instructions for how I used it.
Open Kaleidomatic and touch the button in the lower left corner to open a design saved on your camera roll. These designs were first created using the app Kaleidoscope Camera with my iPad’s camera.
Touch two fingers to the screen then move and twist them to change the pattern. Pinching will zoom out. Spreading your fingers apart will zoom in.
If you touch with two fingers and first hold them steady on the screen before moving them, a box will appear showing the placement of the kaleidoscope piece in relationship to your photo. The box will stay visible as you move your two fingers around to change the pattern, but will disappear when you lift them off the screen.
Sometimes I find I want to see what’s happening in the box. Other times I just start playing without it.
Change the shape and arrangement of the reflections with the scroll wheel at the bottom of the screen. Shown here are “Grapefruit” and “Meadow”.
When you are ready to save a design, touch the arrow in the lower right corner to go to the save settings.
Select to save as a tile, and change the color scheme if desired.
“Plain” keeps the colors unchanged. I liked how this design looked “Burned” so I saved once as “Plain” to keep the original colors, and once as “Burned”.
Touch the lower right corner button to go to the final save screen.
Turn “High Quality” on. Press the green button to save to your iPad camera roll. A progress bar will appear across the top of the screen. When complete, the app turns back to the kaleidoscope design screen.
Here’s the final saved tile from the design above. The saved tiles I’ve tested in straight repeat with Photoshop and on Spoonflower appear to be very accurate.
Since I don’t have to spend time perfecting the repeat, I have more time to make edits for design aesthetics. I use Photoshop for editing, then test the revised tile again in repeat until I’m pleased with the design.
©2016 Alice Frenz all rights reserved
Read more about using apps for pattern design in these posts:
Kaleidos Pic app by Fluocode
Kooleido app for iPhone
Fiber and Pixels 