Arabesque Pattern

Make an arabesque-style pattern: a continuous vine scroll that runs unbroken across every row, or 10 motifs of our own: a split palmette, a five-lobed palmette, a double palmette, a tendril with two leaves, an eight-petal rosette, a four-scroll medallion, a trefoil bud, a leaf spiral, a corner scroll and a heart scroll. The vine is one stem whose bend follows 5.5·sin(2πs) along each unit s, so it waves up and down and every unit ends straight, at the same heading and with no bend, exactly where the next begins: the stem has no kink and no break, even round the edge of the repeat. A split leaf grows from the outside of every crest. Every stroke keeps the same width all along. Set the motifs as an all-over grid, a half-drop, mirrored panels or a border stripe, pick three colours such as gold on deep blue or white on terracotta, then download a seamless SVG tile at real size, a full-size PDF with a motif key, a 300 DPI PNG or a background PNG at an exact screen size. Nothing is uploaded.

100% private — everything runs in your browser. Everything runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded.

How to make an arabesque pattern

1. Choose a preset, or pick a layout (vine scroll, vine border, grid, half-drop, mirrored panels or border) and a motif set.
2. Set the columns, rows and spacing (mirrored panels need an even number of columns), and the bar width for a border.
3. Set the motif size and the smallest gap between motifs.
4. Pick three colours: a ground, the main colour and a second colour.
5. Download the SVG tile, a background PNG, or the PDF; print at 100% and check the 1 in test square.

What you can use it for

• Wedding and event stationery, menus and invitations
• Tiles, wall stencils and furniture painting layouts (real-size PDF)
• Book covers, end papers, labels and packaging
• Laser, vinyl and screen-print planning (SVG tile)
• Gift wrap and scrapbook paper
• Phone, desktop and slide backgrounds (PNG at exact sizes)

The 13 presets

#	Preset	Motifs	Layout	Motifs per repeat	Repeat
1	Continuous vine scroll, gold on deep blue	Vine scroll	Continuous vine scroll	4 × 4	4.8 × 4.8 in
2	Split palmettes, white on terracotta, half-drop	Leaves	Half-drop	4 × 4	4.8 × 4.8 in
3	Tendrils, hearts and corner scrolls, gold on black, mirrored panels	Scrolls	Mirrored panels	4 × 4	4.8 × 4.8 in
4	Vine scroll border, blue on cream	Vine scroll	Vine scroll border	6 in a row	6 × 1.16 in
5	Rosettes and medallions, turquoise on white	Round motifs	All-over grid	4 × 4	4.4 × 4.4 in
6	Leaf spirals and tendrils, green on cream, half-drop	Garden	Half-drop	4 × 4	4.8 × 4.8 in
7	Continuous vine scroll, cream on red	Vine scroll	Continuous vine scroll	4 × 3	4 × 3 in
8	Five-lobed palmettes, navy on sand	Five-lobed palmette	All-over grid	4 × 4	4.4 × 4.4 in
9	Corner scrolls, mirrored, gold on green	Corner scroll (mirrored on the diagonal)	Mirrored panels	4 × 4	4.4 × 4.4 in
10	Trefoil buds border, white on blue	Trefoil bud	Border stripe	6 in a row	6 × 1.28 in
11	All motifs, gold on charcoal	All 10 arabesque motifs	All-over grid	4 × 4	4.8 × 4.8 in
12	Four-scroll medallions, half-drop, blue on white	Four-scroll medallion	Half-drop	4 × 4	4.4 × 4.4 in
13	Fabric scale: 15 cm vine scroll, gold on deep blue	Vine scroll	Continuous vine scroll	5 × 5	15 × 15 cm

Each preset only fills in the fields; change any setting afterwards.

The vine scroll and the 10 motifs

Motif	Symmetry and stroke (tested on every point)
Continuous vine scroll (one stem, split leaves at each crest)	same after a 1/2 turn; stroke 2.14 % of the size, constant
Split palmette	mirrored left to right
Five-lobed palmette	mirrored left to right
Double palmette (up and down)	same after a 1/2 turn; mirrored left to right
Tendril (S-scroll with two leaves)	same after a 1/2 turn; stroke 4.48 % of the size, constant
Eight-petal rosette	same after a 1/8 turn; mirrored left to right
Four-scroll medallion	same after a 1/4 turn; mirrored left to right; stroke 1.44 % of the size, constant
Trefoil bud	mirrored left to right
Leaf spiral	stroke 5.43 % of the size, constant
Corner scroll (mirrored on the diagonal)	mirrored on the diagonal; stroke 2.87 % of the size, constant
Heart scroll	mirrored left to right; stroke 7.28 % of the size, constant

All motifs are our own drawings. Page 2 of the PDF draws each motif used, large, with its symmetry and stroke width.

Background sizes (first preset)

Background	Pixels	Repeats across × down
Phone	1170 × 2532 px	2.54 × 5.49
Phone	1080 × 1920 px	2.34 × 4.17
Desktop	1920 × 1080 px	4.17 × 2.34
Large screen	2560 × 1440 px	5.56 × 3.13
Square post	1080 × 1080 px	2.34 × 2.34

Which tool to use

You want	Use
Flowing vine scrolls, palmettes and tendrils as a repeat or border	Arabesque Pattern (this page)
Interlaced stars and polygons from a ruled grid	Islamic Geometric Pattern Generator
Fine engraved line rosettes	Guilloche Pattern Generator
A motif cut as a stencil	Stencil Maker

For star-and-polygon tilings, try the Islamic Geometric Pattern Generator; to cut a motif as a wall stencil, the Stencil Maker.

For the history of two related ornaments, read our guides to the damask pattern and the paisley pattern.

Frequently asked questions

How is the vine scroll drawn?

As one stroke per unit whose bend along its length s (from −1/2 to 1/2) is 5.5·sin(2πs). The bend is zero at both ends and the two ends leave at the same heading, so units placed end to end make one stem with no kink and no jump in bend. Our tests measure the bend back from the drawn line and check that every unit ends exactly where the next begins, also round the edge of the repeat.

Are the motifs symmetrical?

The split palmette, five-lobed palmette, double palmette, rosette, medallion, trefoil bud and heart scroll are mirror-symmetric left to right; the corner scroll is mirrored on the diagonal. The rosette is also the same after an eighth of a turn, the medallion after a quarter turn and the double palmette, tendril and vine after a half turn. The leaf spiral has no symmetry on purpose. Our tests check every point of every motif.

Is the stroke really the same width all along?

Yes. Both edges of a scroll are its centre line moved half the width along the normal, and every bend stays wider than half the stroke, so the inner edge never folds over and no curl runs into itself. The vine stroke is 2.14 % of the unit size. Our tests measure the width edge to edge at every point.

Will the pattern repeat without a seam?

Yes. A motif that runs over an edge of the repeat carries on from the opposite edge, so copies placed edge to edge join with no seam. Our tests compare the pattern one repeat over by sampled colour, for every preset.

Do the motifs ever touch?

No. Each motif fits inside a circle round its centre, and the maker keeps every two circles at least the gap apart (the half-drop palmettes keep 0.1 in between motifs on a 1.2 in spacing). In the vine layout, neighbouring rows keep at least the gap apart; if they would touch, the maker says how large the spacing must be.

Is the tile the exact size I set?

Yes. The SVG tile is written in inches or centimetres (the first preset is 4.8 in square), and the PDF prints the pattern at full size with a 1 in test square. The motifs are our own drawings, not copies of any historic design.

Is it free?

Yes. There is no sign-up, no watermark and no limit.

Is anything uploaded?

No. Everything is drawn by JavaScript in your browser and nothing is sent anywhere.