Scaling a pattern design not a swatch

[darleneseale]

I’m trying to adjust the scale of my pattern design. It is on an artboard 10 x 13 inches. I’d like to reduce it about 70%. I have tried selecting all the icons and the background and make a clipping mask around them. Then reducing scale with both transform and free transform ( trying each method) to a quarter the size of the artboard then making 4 tiles that fit together. While that works, the file then becomes too large to see the preview or make a swatch. I need to keep all the layers in tact for future editing, so just making a swatch doesn’t accomplish that. If I could make a swatch with my layers intact, that would solve everything. I don’t know how to rescale a pattern design (not swatch) without redesigning it from scratch. Can anyone help? Thanks very much!

[Jeff Witchel, ACI]

A screenshot might help.

[Mike_Gondek]

Option click scale tool to get scaling options, set you check boxes as circled in red.

You can also do this live and visually byu

1. begin to scale with scale tool, keep mouse down
2. add the tilde key to scale pattern only and not the vector pathe
3. add shift key if you wish to constrain proportionately
4. mouse up when looks good

[darleneseale]

Thanks for your quick response. However, I don’t see a way to do this by using the scale tool. (CC2015). it requires I enter a percentage. Your instruction indicate that I have to “begin to scale using the scale tool” then “hold diwn the mouse” but there is nothing in the scale tool that provides “handles” to use my mouse. Do you mean do this visually with the bounding box, NOT the scale tool?  Is this a new feature in AI 2019? This hasn't solved the problem.

Thanks

[Jeff Witchel, ACI]

With your Selection tool, select your object with the Pattern and switch to your Scale tool.

Double-click on the Scale tool and the Scale Options window will open (shown by MikeGondek above) .

If you check Transform Pattern in this window and uncheck all else (except Preview), when you enter a Scale Percentage, only the Pattern will scale and the rest of the object will remain untouched.

Hope this helps.

[darleneseale · Accepted solution]

Maybe I didn’t explain correctly. i’m not scaling a pattern or swatch of a pattern. I’m trying to scale the original pattern design on the artboard so the icons become smaller and I can show more of the repeat on the same size artboard. I’m assuming then I would copy and paste the group of smaller icons so they fit together as the same repeat. I’m searching for a mathematical way to do this without having to start from scratch redesigning the pattern.

Sent from my iPhone

[Monika Gause]

Please show something.

[Mike_Gondek]

Did you review my reply?

Yes you can mathematically scale by

• Holding down option on mac (alt on win) and clicking mousedown with scale tool to get the scale dialog I showed earlier