Gothic Pattern
Make a seamless gothic pattern from 15 motifs of our own. The tracery set is drawn with compass arcs: an equilateral pointed arch, a lancet window with a trefoil, a two-light window with a roundel, a trefoil, a quatrefoil, a cinquefoil and rose windows of eight and twelve roundels. The dark-romantic set adds a bat, a rose on a thorny stem, a crescent moon, an old key, a candle, a spider web and a thorny vine. Scatter them in a half-drop, brick, grid or tossed repeat, set each one in a frame (pointed arch, lancet, roundel, quatrefoil) for a gothic revival diaper, or run them in a border strip. Pick a ground and two colours, such as stone on charcoal or blood red 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. The SVG tile is one repeat and joins edge to edge; the background PNG is drawn at the exact pixel size you pick.
Motifs and repeat
Colours
Print and screen
Runs in your browser with our own code: nothing is uploaded or saved. Every arch, foil and rose window is drawn from a compass construction, and every bat, rose, moon, key, candle, web and vine is our own drawing, not a copy of any building, window or brand print; there is no cross, skull or religious symbol. You may use what you make here, including commercially, with no credit needed.
How to make a gothic pattern
- Choose a preset, or pick a motif set and a repeat (half-drop, brick, grid, tossed or border strip).
- Choose a frame round each motif (pointed arch, lancet, roundel or quatrefoil), or none, and the frame thickness.
- Set the columns, rows, spacing, motif size, smallest gap, seed and (for tossed) the largest turn.
- Pick the ground, the main colour and a second colour for insets, flames and dots.
- 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
- Wallpaper and fabric mock-ups (real-size tile)
- Halloween and dark-romantic party invitations, menus and gift wrap
- Book covers, end papers and journal pages
- Phone, desktop and slide backgrounds (PNG at exact sizes)
- Stencils, lino and block printing (one motif per cell)
- Border strips for shelves, labels and stationery
The 16 presets
| # | Preset | Motif set | Repeat | Frame | Tile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stone tracery on charcoal, half-drop | Tracery | Half-drop | none | 5 × 5 in |
| 2 | Quatrefoil diaper, gold on oxblood, grid | Quatrefoil only | Grid | none | 5 × 5 in |
| 3 | Trefoils, quatrefoils and cinquefoils, brick | Foils | Brick | none | 5 × 5 in |
| 4 | Rose windows on midnight blue, half-drop | Rose windows | Half-drop | none | 5 × 5 in |
| 5 | Pointed arch frames with foils, plum | Foils | Grid | Pointed arch | 5 × 5 in |
| 6 | Lancet frames with roses and vines, black and red | Rose garden | Brick | Lancet | 5 × 5 in |
| 7 | Roundel frames, gothic revival diaper, stone | Gothic revival diaper | Half-drop | Roundel | 5 × 5 in |
| 8 | Quatrefoil frames with bats and moons, purple | Night | Grid | Quatrefoil | 5 × 5 in |
| 9 | Bats and moons on purple, tossed | Night | Tossed | none | 5 × 5 in |
| 10 | Dark romantic mix, black and blood red | Dark romantic | Half-drop | none | 5 × 5 in |
| 11 | Border strip: arches between rules, pewter | Tracery | Border strip | none | 6 × 1.7 in |
| 12 | Spider webs, silver on black, grid | Spider web only | Grid | none | 5 × 5 in |
| 13 | Candles, keys and roses, tossed | Candle only | Tossed | none | 5 × 5 in |
| 14 | Tiny bats, roses and moons, ditsy print | Dark romantic | Tossed | none | 3.6 × 3.6 in |
| 15 | Black on white, every motif, grid | All 15 motifs | Grid | none | 5 × 5 in |
| 16 | Fabric scale: 20 cm repeat, gothic revival | Gothic revival diaper | Half-drop | none | 20 × 20 cm |
Each preset only fills in the fields; change any setting afterwards.
The 15 motifs
| Motif | Symmetry (tested on every point) |
|---|---|
| Equilateral pointed arch | mirrored left to right |
| Lancet window with a trefoil | mirrored left to right |
| Two-light window with a roundel | mirrored left to right |
| Trefoil | mirrored left to right |
| Quatrefoil | mirrored left to right |
| Cinquefoil | mirrored left to right |
| Rose window, eight roundels | mirrored left to right |
| Rose window, twelve roundels | mirrored left to right |
| Bat | mirrored left to right |
| Rose on a thorny stem | mirrored left to right |
| Crescent moon | one-sided |
| Old key | one-sided |
| Candle | mirrored left to right |
| Spider web | mirrored left to right |
| Thorny vine | one-sided |
All motifs are our own drawings. Page 2 of the PDF draws each motif used, large, in the pattern colours.
The compass rules behind the tracery
| Arch | Radius of each side | Rise of the point above the springing line |
|---|---|---|
| Equilateral pointed arch | 1 × the span | 0.87 × the span |
| Lancet | 1.5 × the span | 1.12 × the span |
| Lobes | Angle between lobe centres | Lobe radius (centres 1 unit from the middle) | Gap between neighbouring centres |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 (trefoil) | 120° | 0.8660 | 1.7321 |
| 4 (quatrefoil) | 90° | 0.7071 | 1.4142 |
| 5 (cinquefoil) | 72° | 0.5878 | 1.1756 |
| 6 | 60° | 0.5000 | 1.0000 |
| 8 | 45° | 0.3827 | 0.7654 |
| Rose window (outer radius 1, ring 0.06) | Roundel centres from the middle | Roundel radius | Hub radius |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 roundels | 0.6798 | 0.2602 | 0.4197 |
| 12 roundels | 0.7467 | 0.1933 | 0.5535 |
Worked out by the tool. In a foil, each lobe radius is half the gap between neighbouring centres, so the lobes just touch. In a rose window, each roundel touches both neighbours, the outer ring and the hub. In the two-light window, each sub-arch has half the span, and the roundel in the head sits 1.118 × the half-span above the springing line with radius 0.5 × the half-span, so it touches both sub-arches and the main arch. Our tests check every one of these to within 0.000000001.
The mixed motif sets
| Set | Motifs |
|---|---|
| All 15 motifs | equilateral pointed arch, lancet window with a trefoil, two-light window with a roundel, trefoil, quatrefoil, cinquefoil, rose window, eight roundels, rose window, twelve roundels, bat, rose on a thorny stem, crescent moon, old key, candle, spider web, thorny vine |
| Tracery | equilateral pointed arch, lancet window with a trefoil, two-light window with a roundel |
| Foils | trefoil, quatrefoil, cinquefoil |
| Rose windows | rose window, eight roundels, rose window, twelve roundels |
| Gothic revival diaper | quatrefoil, trefoil, rose window, eight roundels |
| Dark romantic | bat, rose on a thorny stem, crescent moon, old key, candle, spider web, thorny vine |
| Night | bat, crescent moon, spider web |
| Rose garden | rose on a thorny stem, thorny vine |
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 |
|---|---|
| Tracery, rose windows and dark-romantic motifs as a seamless repeat | Gothic Pattern (this page) |
| Gothic blackletter text to copy and paste | Gothic Text Generator |
| A shape of your own as a repeat | SVG Pattern Generator |
| A round design built from rings | Mandala Maker |
| A motif cut as a stencil | Stencil Maker |
For blackletter lettering to go with the pattern, try the Gothic Text Generator; to repeat a shape of your own, the SVG Pattern Generator; to cut a motif as a stencil, the Stencil Maker. For more on Gothic Revival ornament, read our guide to Augustus Pugin.
More free tools
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Frequently asked questions
How is the pointed arch drawn?
With two compass arcs. For the equilateral arch, each side is an arc whose radius equals the span, centred on the opposite springing point, so the arch rises 0.87 × the span above the springing line. The lancet uses a radius of 1.5 × the span, so it rises 1.12 × the span. Our tests check every arc point against its centre and radius.
How are the trefoil, quatrefoil and cinquefoil made?
Three, four or five equal circles are set round a centre at equal angles, each just touching its neighbours, and the outline follows their outer arcs; the opening inside follows smaller arcs on the same centres, with a sharp cusp where two lobes meet. The table below gives the sizes.
What is the difference between half-drop, brick, grid, tossed and border?
In a grid, the motifs 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 motif is also turned by a seeded angle up to the largest turn you set. Border makes one row of motifs between two rules and two rows of dots, as a strip for hems and edges. A half-drop or tossed repeat needs an even number of columns and a brick repeat an even number of rows; the maker tells you if not.
Can the motifs or frames overlap?
No. Each motif, or each frame with its motif inside, sits in the middle of its own square cell, 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 motif against its cell, and every motif against the opening of its frame.
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 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 there crosses or skulls?
No. There is no cross, skull or religious symbol in any motif or preset. For a skull print, the skull pattern maker is a separate tool.
Are these copies of real buildings or windows?
No. Every arch, foil and rose window is our own drawing from compass geometry, and every bat, rose, moon, key, candle, web and vine is our own flat drawing, not a copy of any building, window or brand print.
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.