Swirl Pattern

Make a swirl pattern from swirls drawn on real curves: evenly spaced swirls (each turn the same distance from the last), swirls that open out like a shell, S-scrolls of two joined swirls, and rosettes of 2 to 12 arms turned evenly round a centre. Set the size, turns, line width and direction, place them in a grid, a half-drop or a scatter (the same seed always gives the same pattern, and no two swirls touch), and pick 2 to 4 colours. Download a seamless SVG tile, a 300 DPI PNG or a PDF at full size with a swirl key. Swirls that cross an edge of the tile carry on from the opposite edge, so the repeat has no seam, and every drawn line stays on its curve (all tested). Nothing is uploaded.

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How to make a swirl pattern

1. Choose a preset or a swirl type: even, opening out, S-scroll or rosette.
2. Set the size, the turns and the line width; tick Clockwise to mirror it.
3. Choose a layout: one swirl, grid, half-drop or scattered (change the seed for a new scatter).
4. Pick the ground and swirl colours.
5. Download the SVG tile or the PDF; print at 100% and check the 1 in test square.

What you can use it for

• Fabric, gift wrap and scrapbook paper
• Wallpaper and painted or stencilled walls
• Website, slide and phone backgrounds (SVG tile)
• Colouring and doodle sheets (black lines on white)
• Cutting machines and pen plotters (single-line SVG)
• Cards, invitations and packaging

The 14 presets

#	Preset	Swirl	Size	Layout	Seamless repeat
1	Classic swirls, grid	Archimedean swirl	1 in	Grid	2.58 × 2.58 in, 4 swirls
2	Half-drop swirls, two colours	Archimedean swirl	1.2 in	Half-drop	2.89 × 2.89 in, 4 swirls
3	Scattered swirls (seed 7)	Archimedean swirl	0.9 in	Scattered	6 × 6 in, 24 swirls
4	Tiny scattered swirls, three colours	Archimedean swirl	0.35 in	Scattered	3 × 3 in, 40 swirls
5	Logarithmic swirls (growth 2 per turn)	Logarithmic swirl	1.2 in	Grid	2.88 × 2.88 in, 4 swirls
6	Shell-like logarithmic swirls	Logarithmic swirl	1.5 in	Half-drop	3.51 × 3.51 in, 4 swirls
7	S-scrolls, grid	S-scroll	1.6 in	Grid	3.69 × 3.69 in, 4 swirls
8	Gold S-scrolls on charcoal	S-scroll	1.4 in	Half-drop	3.18 × 3.18 in, 4 swirls
9	Four-arm rosettes	Swirl rosette	1.2 in	Grid	2.88 × 2.88 in, 4 swirls
10	Six-arm rosettes, three colours	Swirl rosette	1.4 in	Half-drop	3.28 × 3.28 in, 4 swirls
11	Three-arm rosettes (triskele-like)	Swirl rosette	1.2 in	Grid	2.89 × 2.89 in, 4 swirls
12	One big swirl (motif to trace)	Archimedean swirl	6 in	One motif	–
13	Black lines on white (for colouring)	Archimedean swirl	1 in	Scattered	5 × 5 in, 18 swirls
14	Stencil size: 8 cm swirls	Archimedean swirl	8 cm	Half-drop	20.6 × 20.6 cm, 4 swirls

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

Distance between turns of an even swirl

Swirl size (across)	Turns	Distance between turns (2πb)
1 in	2	0.25 in (6.35 mm)
1 in	3	0.17 in (4.23 mm)
2 in	3	0.33 in (8.47 mm)
2 in	5	0.2 in (5.08 mm)
4 in	4	0.5 in (12.7 mm)
6 in	5	0.6 in (15.24 mm)
10 in	6	0.83 in (21.17 mm)

With no centre gap, the distance between turns is the radius divided by the number of turns.

Opening-out swirls: growth per turn

Growth per turn	k in r = c·e^kθ	Angle between the line and the radius
1.5	0.0645	86.31°
2	0.1103	83.7°
3	0.1748	80.08°
4	0.2206	77.56°
6	0.2852	74.08°

The angle between the swirl line and the radius is the same everywhere on an opening-out swirl.

Rosette arm angles

Arms	Angle between arms	Arm directions
2	180°	0°, 180°
3	120°	0°, 120°, 240°
4	90°	0°, 90°, 180°, 270°
5	72°	0°, 72°, 144°, 216°, 288°
6	60°	0°, 60°, 120°, 180°, 240°, 300°
8	45°	0°, 45°, 90°, 135°, 180°, 225°, 270°, 315°
12	30°	0°, 30°, 60°, 90°, 120°, 150°, 180°, 210°, 240°, 270°, 300°, 330°

Which tool to use

You want	Use
Repeating swirls, scrolls and rosettes	Swirl Pattern (this page)
A photo drawn as one spiral line	Spiral Art Generator
Dyed-fabric looks	Tie-Dye Pattern Generator
Rolling-circle curve art	Spirograph Generator
Ogee repeats	Ogee Pattern

Also handy: the Spiral Art Generator, the Tie-Dye Pattern Generator and the Spirograph Generator.

Frequently asked questions

What is a swirl pattern?

A repeat of curling lines: swirls, scrolls or rosettes placed in rows or scattered over the background. This maker draws each swirl from a curve you can see on page 2 of the PDF.

What is the difference between the swirl types?

An even swirl keeps the same distance between turns. An opening-out swirl grows by the same factor every turn, like a shell. An S-scroll is two even swirls joined at their outer ends, and a rosette is several arms turned evenly round one centre.

What curves are used?

Even swirls follow r = c + bθ, so the turns are 2πb apart (an Archimedean spiral); opening-out swirls follow r = c·e^kθ (a logarithmic spiral). The definitions we use are dated in our notes, and the tables above show the numbers.

Do the swirls overlap in the scattered layout?

No. Each swirl has a circle that holds it, line width included, and a new swirl is only placed where its circle stays clear of every other one by the gap you set, across the tile edges too. Our tests check every pair.

Will the tile repeat without a seam?

Yes. A swirl that runs over an edge of the tile is drawn again from the opposite edge, so copies placed edge to edge join with no seam. Our tests compare the pattern one and two repeats over.

Can I get the same scatter again?

Yes. The scatter is worked out from the seed number: the same seed and settings give exactly the same pattern; a new seed gives a new arrangement.

How is this different from the spiral art and tie-dye generators?

The spiral art generator turns a photo into one long spiral line, and the tie-dye generator imitates dyed fabric. This page makes a repeating pattern of many line swirls with a seamless tile.

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.