How to Make a Vertical Line Pattern in Illustrator

Creating a vertical line pattern in Adobe Illustrator involves defining a single line or stripe and then repeating it as a pattern tile. This pattern can then be applied to any shape or object in your document.

## Steps to Create a Vertical Line Pattern

Follow these steps to design and save your custom vertical stripe pattern:

1.  **Prepare Your Artwork:**
    *   Open a new or existing Illustrator document.
    *   Using the **Rectangle Tool (M)**, draw a vertical rectangle. This will represent a single stripe in your pattern.
    *   Fill this rectangle with the color you want for your stripe. Set the stroke to none if you don't want outlines.

2.  **Define the Pattern:**
    *   Select the vertical rectangle shape you just created.
    *   Go to the menu bar and choose **Object > Pattern > Make**.
    *   Illustrator will open the **Pattern Options** panel and place you in Pattern Editing Mode. A message will indicate that the new pattern has been added to the Swatches panel.

3.  **Configure Pattern Options:**
    *   In the Pattern Options panel, give your pattern a descriptive name (e.g., "Vertical Stripes").
    *   Choose the **Tile Type**. For simple vertical lines, **Grid** is usually suitable.
    *   Adjust the **Width** and **Height** of the tile. The width should be the width of your stripe plus the desired spacing between stripes. The height should match the height of your stripe (or be set to fit the artwork).
    *   You can also adjust **Spacing** directly by clicking the chain icon to unlink dimensions. Increase the Horizontal Spacing to add space between your vertical lines.
    *   Use the **Copies** setting (e.g., 5x5) to preview how the pattern repeats.

4.  **Finalize and Save:**
    *   Once you are happy with the look of your vertical pattern preview, exit the Pattern Editing Mode. You can do this by clicking the **Done** button in the bar at the top of the document window or by clicking the grey arrow to the left of the bar.
    *   As noted in the reference, after you click okay/done, you will have your vertical pattern tile. **"[A]nd all we have to do is dragging to the swatches panel."** (The "Make Pattern" feature automatically adds it to the Swatches panel when you exit the editing mode, making it ready for use).

## Using Your Vertical Pattern

To use your new vertical line pattern:

*   Open the **Swatches panel** (**Window > Swatches**).
*   Locate your newly created pattern swatch by the name you gave it.
*   Select an object on your artboard (e.g., a rectangle, a shape, or text).
*   Click on your pattern swatch in the Swatches panel. The selected object will now be filled with your vertical line pattern.
*   As the reference mentions, "If you want to test. It. Just select the pattern swatch."

By following these steps, you can easily create and apply custom vertical line patterns in Adobe Illustrator for backgrounds, fills, or design elements.