Skull Pattern
Make a seamless skull pattern from 10 skulls of our own: a classic skull, a cute skull with round eyes and pink cheeks, a decorated skull with flowers (sugar-skull style, generic), a line-art skull, a geometric skull, a skull with a flower crown, a winking skull, a skull with diamond eyes, a tall skull and a skull with star eyes and a heart nose. Set them in a half-drop (every second column moved down exactly half a cell), a brick repeat (every second row moved across half a cell) or a plain grid, mix them or use one, pick a ground and two colours, such as cream and orange on black for Halloween or white and pink on pastel pink for a cute print, 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 skull is our own drawing, not a logo or a copy of any print. You may use what you make here, including commercially, with no credit needed.
How to make a skull pattern
- Choose a preset, or pick a skull set and a repeat (half-drop, brick or grid).
- Set the columns, rows and spacing (a half-drop needs an even number of columns, a brick repeat an even number of rows).
- Set the skull size, the smallest gap and the seed (the seed shuffles which skull goes where).
- Pick the ground, the skull colour and a second colour for eyes, flowers and cheeks.
- 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
- Halloween gift wrap, party paper and treat bags
- Fabric, sock and tote 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)
- Shop and social backgrounds for October
The 13 presets
| # | Preset | Skulls | Repeat | Motifs per repeat | Tile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Halloween: cream skulls on black, half-drop | Mixed skulls | Half-drop | 4 × 4 | 5 × 5 in |
| 2 | Decorated skulls, pink and teal on black | Decorated skull with flowers (sugar-skull style, generic) only | Half-drop | 4 × 4 | 5 × 5 in |
| 3 | Cute skulls on pastel pink, grid | Cute round skull only | Grid | 4 × 4 | 5 × 5 in |
| 4 | Black skulls on purple, brick | Mixed skulls | Brick | 4 × 4 | 5 × 5 in |
| 5 | Graphic skulls, black on white, grid | Graphic skulls | Grid | 4 × 4 | 5 × 5 in |
| 6 | Line skulls, white on charcoal, brick | Line skull (outline) only | Brick | 4 × 4 | 5 × 5 in |
| 7 | Flower-crown skulls on mint, half-drop | Skull with a flower crown only | Half-drop | 4 × 4 | 5 × 5 in |
| 8 | Black skulls on orange, grid | All 10 skulls | Grid | 4 × 4 | 5 × 5 in |
| 9 | Neon green skulls on black, half-drop | Graphic skulls | Half-drop | 4 × 4 | 5 × 5 in |
| 10 | Red and cream on black, all skulls, brick | All 10 skulls | Brick | 4 × 4 | 5 × 5 in |
| 11 | Small classic skulls, ditsy print | Classic skull only | Half-drop | 6 × 6 | 3.6 × 3.6 in |
| 12 | Star-eyed and winking skulls on navy | Cute round skull only | Brick | 4 × 4 | 5 × 5 in |
| 13 | Fabric scale: 20 cm repeat, mixed skulls | Mixed skulls | Half-drop | 4 × 4 | 20 × 20 cm |
Each preset only fills in the fields; change any setting afterwards.
The 10 skulls
| Skull | Symmetry (tested on every point) |
|---|---|
| Classic skull | mirrored left to right |
| Cute round skull | mirrored left to right |
| Decorated skull with flowers (sugar-skull style, generic) | mirrored left to right |
| Line skull (outline) | mirrored left to right |
| Geometric skull | mirrored left to right |
| Skull with a flower crown | mirrored left to right |
| Winking skull | no mirror symmetry |
| Skull with diamond eyes | mirrored left to right |
| Tall skull with a long jaw | mirrored left to right |
| Skull with star eyes | mirrored left to right |
All skulls are our own drawings. Page 2 of the PDF draws each skull 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 |
|---|---|
| Skulls in a seamless repeat | Skull Pattern (this page) |
| Ribbon bows in a seamless repeat | Bow Pattern |
| Even dots in a grid or half-drop | Polka Dot Pattern Generator |
| Your own SVG shapes as a repeat | SVG Pattern Generator |
| A skull cut as a stencil | Stencil Maker |
To repeat a shape of your own, try the SVG Pattern Generator; to cut a skull as a wall or shirt stencil, the Stencil Maker; for plain dots, the Polka Dot Pattern Generator.
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 skulls copied from a band, a flag or a brand?
No. Every skull is our own drawing, made of flat shapes from the same code that draws the preview and the files. There is no band emblem, flag or crossed bones, and no copy of any logo or print.
Is the decorated skull copied from an artist?
No. It is our own decorated skull in a generic sugar-skull style: flowers, dots and ringed eyes in the second colour. It does not copy any artist’s design.
What is the difference between half-drop, brick and grid?
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, like bricks in a wall. A half-drop needs an even number of columns and a brick repeat an even number of rows, so the shifted lines alternate cleanly across the edge of the repeat; the maker says so if they do not.
Can the motifs overlap?
No. Each motif sits in the middle of its own square cell, and the maker refuses a motif 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.
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 and every repeat: 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 skulls symmetrical?
9 of the 10 skulls are mirror-symmetric left to right; the winking skull is not, on purpose. Our tests check every point of every skull, and check that the eyes, nose and teeth are 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.