How to Repeat Lines

[rite_oak]

Hi, I have looked at several posts in this forum and several youtube videos, and I am unable to find a way to make repeating lines (without creating a new pattern). None of the instructions I am trying are working.

I have drawn a green line with the pen tool (screenshot). I would like to repeat it over and over (vertically) with equal spacing (example screenshot 2). I am using Windows 11. Please advise, thank you.

[Conrad_C]

In theory, it should be possible to use the “Repeat Transformation with duplicate” keyboard shortcut to repeat copies of a layer. However…in practice, that technique seems to work only on the more traditional pixel layers. It doesn’t seem to work on vector/path layers such as a line you draw with the Pen tool.

Because of that difference, if you want to make that shortcut work with your line, in my tests you’d have to first use the command Layer > Rasterize > Layer, if you’re OK with it no longer being editable as a vector path. If the vertical spacing isn’t quite right, you can adjust the positions of the top and bottom line layers, then select all of the line layers and use the Align/Distribute commands on the Layer menu to evenly distribute them across the vertical space.

Ultimately, Photoshop doesn’t really have the features to do what you’re asking. But for over 30 years, Adobe Illustrator has had the Blend feature which can do this in a snap: Draw a path, offset a copy at the farthest distance you want, select both, choose Object > Blend > Make. Whenever that blend object is selected, you can customize the number of lines and spacing by using the Spacing options in the Object > Blend > Blend Options dialog box.

[rite_oak]

Thanks Conrad, where is "Object > Blend > Make". I don't see it anywhere on my Photoshop interface and AI says it doesn't exist.

[rite_oak]

I am not using Illustrator. I am using Photoshop.

[rite_oak]

Sorry, you said Illustrator. I am trying to follow the second set of directions you gave me.

"If the vertical spacing isn’t quite right, you can adjust the positions of the top and bottom line layers, then select all of the line layers and use the Align/Distribute commands on the Layer menu to evenly distribute them across the vertical space".

I don't understand how the Align/Distribute commands would distribute multiple lines across a space. Please advise, thank you.

[jane-e]

@rite_oak 

It's not clear if you followed the directions from Conrad or not.

Create as many layers as you need, then position the top and bottom lines (layers) where you want them. Select all the layers and Distribute. If it doesn't work, please show us a screenshot of what you have so far, including your layers panel.

Jane

[Conrad_C]

I don't understand how the Align/Distribute commands would distribute multiple lines across a space. Please advise, thank you.

By @rite_oak

OK, see the demo below, where I used the following steps. Align/Distribute work on separate layers, so each line has to be a separate shape layer. (I wish there was a way to align/distribute multiple paths on a single shape layer, but that’s not possible right now.)

1. In Photoshop, drag the number of copies you need of the layer by Alt-dragging with the Move tool. (For Mac users, that’s Option-dragging.) Precise spacing isn't required here because the Distribute Spacing option will take care of that in step 3. However, make sure the top and bottom layers are the exact distance you want to cover in total, because the other layers will be distributed between these. 

2. Select all of the layers that need to be evenly spaced. 

3. Apply the Distribute Spacing option. In this case, you want Distribute Vertically. There’s more than one way to use Align/Distribute. You can:

• Click an Align/Distribute icon in the options bar. Those options appear when the Move tool is selected. This is what’s shown in the demo.
• Choose the command Layer > Distribute > Vertically. (Not shown)

4. After distributing those layers, I group them so that I can work with them as a unit.

[Trevor.Dennis]

Conrad, I have 'sort of' managed to do it using the 'New Smart Object via Copy' trick, but it was a bit of a palava.

The crux of it was that I was unable to make a vector line transform into the wave shape.  Even as a Smart Object it would not budge.  So I had to make it a solid shape by offsetting a path by one pixel and joining them.  

This makes for a clunky line, even with just a one pixel offset.

On the up side, these are Smart Objects, so edit one, edit them all.

[Conrad_C]

Hi Trevor, if I interpreted the original post correctly I thought that the problem was not making the line wavy, it was creating a pattern out of a wavy line already drawn with the Pen tool. So in the demo I just posted, I drew my own wavy line from scratch with the Pen tool, not using any warp effects.

[rite_oak · Accepted solution]

Hi Everyone, thank you for your responses. I may just have a very difficult time following directions, but I finally found a solution.

-Create an object (a circle, square, line, anything)

-Press CTRL + ALT + T (This command will create a new layer for you; you don't need to create a new layer)

-Move the object to where you want the second object to be (a new layer will be created for you)

-Press the Select Tool (don't skip this or it won't work!)

-Press CTRL + ALT + SHIFT + T

-Keep pressing this command over and over to create a new objects

[Trevor.Dennis]

This is called Free Transform Step & Repeat, but has other names.  It is exactly what Conrad suggested in his first reply, but it does not work well with vector (shape) layers.  It also doesn't work with Smart Objects, but there is a work around.  This means that each new object is a copy of the previous copy, so you lose resolution.

[Conrad_C]

Good work rite_oak. Looks like you got it to work.

I had originally thought of using the Transform Step & Repeat shortcuts you mentioned, but after testing it I ended up not suggesting it because of the reasons Trevor.Dennis mentioned,: I couldn‘t get it to work as well with vector shape layers. But your post helped indicate some of the weird subtleties that do make it work. It does seem to work using your exact steps. The reason it wasn’t working reliably for me is small variations on those steps, like Alt-dragging first instead of pressing Ctrl + Alt + T first. And like you said, the selection state at each step makes a big difference, which I think is why your fourth step requires selecting the Move tool.

One of the things I found confusing is that even though pressing Ctrl + Alt + T creates a duplicate, it does not actually appear in the Layers panel until its transformations are applied.

Anyway, it sounds like your own solution is probably the Correct Answer.