Butterfly Pattern
Make a seamless butterfly pattern from 11 butterflies of our own: classic, spotted, long hind tails, round wings, pointed wings, open wing cells, outline, heart wings, geometric, two-tone and wide-open. Set them tossed (each turned by a seeded angle), in a half-drop (every second column moved down exactly half a cell), a brick repeat or a plain grid, mix them or use one, pick a ground and two colours, such as blue and orange on cream or white on black, 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.
Page 1 is the pattern at full size with a 1 in test square; page 2 is the motif key (butterflies) or the scale key (snake skin). The SVG tile is one repeat and joins edge to edge; the background PNG is drawn at the exact pixel size you pick.
Butterflies and repeat
Colours
Print and screen
Runs in your browser with our own code: nothing is uploaded or saved. Every butterfly is our own drawing, not a copy of a print or a real species. You may use what you make here, including commercially, with no credit needed.
How to make a butterfly pattern
- Choose a preset, or pick a butterfly set and a repeat (tossed, half-drop, brick or grid).
- Set the columns, rows and spacing (a half-drop or tossed repeat needs an even number of columns, a brick repeat an even number of rows).
- Set the butterfly size, the smallest gap, the largest turn for a tossed repeat and the seed (the seed shuffles which butterfly goes where and how each one turns).
- Pick the ground, the butterfly colour and a second colour for spots and inner wings.
- 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
- Spring and garden-party gift wrap, tags and paper
- Nursery walls, fabric and cushion mock-ups (real-size tile)
- Phone, desktop and slide backgrounds (PNG at exact sizes)
- Scrapbook paper and journal pages
- Screen-print, vinyl and sticker-sheet planning (SVG tile)
- Baby shower and birthday stationery
The 13 presets
| # | Preset | Butterflies | Repeat | Motifs per repeat | Tile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Garden: mixed butterflies on cream, half-drop | Mixed butterflies | Half-drop | 4 × 4 | 5 × 5 in |
| 2 | Tossed butterflies, coral on white | All 11 butterflies | Tossed | 4 × 4 | 5 × 5 in |
| 3 | Pastel nursery: lilac and mint | Mixed butterflies | Grid | 4 × 4 | 5 × 5 in |
| 4 | Black butterflies on white, brick | All 11 butterflies | Brick | 4 × 4 | 5 × 5 in |
| 5 | Gold on navy, half-drop | Garden mix | Half-drop | 4 × 4 | 5 × 5 in |
| 6 | Line-art butterflies, ink on paper | Light butterflies | Tossed | 4 × 4 | 5 × 5 in |
| 7 | Orange and black on cream, grid | Mixed butterflies | Grid | 4 × 4 | 5 × 5 in |
| 8 | Blue butterflies on pale sky, tossed | Garden mix | Tossed | 4 × 4 | 5 × 5 in |
| 9 | Pink and red hearts, brick | Heart-wing butterfly only | Brick | 4 × 4 | 5 × 5 in |
| 10 | Spring green on white, half-drop | All 11 butterflies | Half-drop | 4 × 4 | 5 × 5 in |
| 11 | Tiny butterflies, ditsy print | Classic butterfly only | Tossed | 6 × 6 | 3.6 × 3.6 in |
| 12 | White butterflies on black, tossed | All 11 butterflies | Tossed | 4 × 4 | 5 × 5 in |
| 13 | Fabric scale: 20 cm repeat, mixed butterflies | Mixed butterflies | Half-drop | 4 × 4 | 20 × 20 cm |
Each preset only fills in the fields; change any setting afterwards.
The 11 butterflies
| Butterfly | Symmetry (tested on every point) |
|---|---|
| Classic butterfly | mirrored left to right |
| Spotted butterfly | mirrored left to right |
| Butterfly with long hind tails | mirrored left to right |
| Round-wing butterfly | mirrored left to right |
| Pointed-wing butterfly | mirrored left to right |
| Butterfly with open wing cells | mirrored left to right |
| Outline butterfly (line art) | mirrored left to right |
| Heart-wing butterfly | mirrored left to right |
| Geometric butterfly | mirrored left to right |
| Two-tone butterfly | mirrored left to right |
| Wide-open butterfly | mirrored left to right |
All butterflies are our own drawings. Page 2 of the PDF draws each butterfly used, large, in the pattern colours.
Background sizes (first preset)
| Background | Pixels | Repeats across × down |
|---|---|---|
| Phone | 1170 × 2532 px | 2.44 × 5.28 |
| Phone | 1080 × 1920 px | 2.25 × 4 |
| Desktop | 1920 × 1080 px | 4 × 2.25 |
| Large screen | 2560 × 1440 px | 5.33 × 3 |
| Square post | 1080 × 1080 px | 2.25 × 2.25 |
Which tool to use
| You want | Use |
|---|---|
| Butterflies in a seamless repeat | Butterfly Pattern (this page) |
| Scales in a seamless repeat | Snake Skin Pattern |
| Even dots in a grid or half-drop | Polka Dot Pattern Generator |
| A shape of your own as a repeat | SVG Pattern Generator |
| A butterfly cut as a stencil | Stencil Maker |
For plain dots, try the Polka Dot Pattern Generator; to repeat a shape of your own, the SVG Pattern Generator; to cut a butterfly as a wall stencil, the Stencil Maker.
More free tools
More pattern tools?
Pattern makers and print tools that run privately in your browser, with no sign-up and no watermark.
Frequently asked questions
Are the butterflies real species?
No. Every butterfly is our own drawing made of flat shapes (ellipses, circles, hearts and straight-sided wings), named by its shape. None copies a real species, a photo or a print.
What is the difference between half-drop, brick, grid and tossed?
In a grid, the butterflies sit in straight rows and columns. In a half-drop, every second column is moved down exactly half a cell; in a brick repeat, every second row is moved across exactly half a cell. Tossed is a half-drop where each butterfly is also turned by a seeded angle up to the largest turn you set. A half-drop or tossed repeat needs an even number of columns and a brick repeat an even number of rows; the maker says so if they do not.
Can the butterflies overlap?
No. Each butterfly sits in the middle of its own square cell, turned or not, and the maker refuses a size that would come closer than the smallest gap you set to the edge of its cell; it tells you the spacing needed. Our tests check every point of every butterfly against its cell.
Will the pattern repeat without a seam?
Yes. A motif or line 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 check this two ways for every preset: each shape cut by an edge has its exact partner one repeat over in the same tile, and sampled colours match one repeat over.
Are the butterflies symmetrical?
Yes. Every butterfly is mirror-symmetric left to right, and our tests check every point. The open-cell and outline butterflies have true holes that show the ground.
Is the tile the exact size I set?
Yes. The SVG tile is written in inches or centimetres (the first preset is 5 in square: 4 cells of 1.25 in), and the PDF prints the pattern at full size with a 1 in test square.
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.