How to make a warped checkerboard pattern in Affinity Designer

Final product imageFinal product imageFinal product image
What You’ll Be Creating

In this Affinity Designer tutorial, you will learn how to make a checkerboard pattern and how you can easily turn it into a wavy checkerboard pattern.

If you don’t have the time to build your own warped checkered pattern from scratch, then Envato is the solution. This subscription-based marketplace has over 2,000 Illustrator add-ons you can download without restrictions!

Jump to content in this section:

1. How to create a new document and set up a grid

Step 1

Hit Control-N to create a new document. Select Pixels from the Document units drop-down menu, and set the Page width and Page height to 850 px. Set the DPI to 72, and then click Create.

create new document in Affinity Designercreate new document in Affinity Designercreate new document in Affinity Designer

Step 2

Go to View > Show Grid (Control-‘) to make the grid visible, and then focus on the Toolbar. Check the Force pixel Alignment, Move By Whole Pixels, and Snapping buttons, and then open the whole snapping menu to make sure that Snap to grid is enabled. Having all these settings enabled will make it easier for you to create pixel-perfect shapes.

Now, let’s simplify the grid as you will only need a grid every 40 px. Go to View > Grid & Axis, click the Basic tab, and simply set the Spacing to 40 px. This way, you’ll have a gridline every 40 px.

set up grid and enable snapping in Affinity Designerset up grid and enable snapping in Affinity Designerset up grid and enable snapping in Affinity Designer

2. How to make a checkerboard pattern

Step 1

Focus on your Tools. First, click the Stroke color and remove the color, and then double-click the Fill color and replace the existing color with R=255 G=15 B=38.

Select the Rectangle Tool (M) from your Tools and use it to add a 40 px square in the top-left corner of your artboard. As you’ll see, the grid and the Snap to grid feature will come in handy.

create red square using the Rectangle Toolcreate red square using the Rectangle Toolcreate red square using the Rectangle Tool

Step 2

Use the Move Tool (V) to select your red square, and press Control-C and Control-V to add a copy. Move this copy 40 px down and 40 px to the right, as shown in the second image. Again, Snap to grid will make things a lot easier.

duplicate squareduplicate squareduplicate square

Step 3

Use the Move Tool (V) to select both of your shapes and duplicate them (Control-C > Control-V).

Keep the copies selected and move the cursor slightly outside one of the corners. Once your cursor turns into a rounded, double-sided arrow, you can click and drag to rotate the selection. Hold down the Shift key to rotate your selection in increments of 15 degrees. In the end, you need to rotate the copies 90 degrees, as shown in the second image.

Next, change the Fill color of these squares to R=251 G=192 B=36.

duplicate shapes rotate and recolorduplicate shapes rotate and recolorduplicate shapes rotate and recolor

Step 4

Select your four squares and duplicate them (Control-C > Control-V). Select these copies and move them 80 px to the right, as shown in the second image. Keep these copies selected.

duplicate and move shapesduplicate and move shapesduplicate and move shapes

Step 5

With the copies still selected, press Control-J. This will add a new set of copies on top of your selection.

Move these new copies 80 px to the right, as shown in the second image, and then press Control-J a bunch of times until you have a full row of squares covering the entire length of your artboard, as you can see in the third image.

repeat a duplicate and move command in Affinity Designerrepeat a duplicate and move command in Affinity Designerrepeat a duplicate and move command in Affinity Designer

Step 6

Use the Move Tool (V) or simply press Control-A to select all your squares. Press Control-G to quickly Group your selected shapes. You can also go to the Layers panel (Window > Layers) to rename this group “Row”, but that’s not mandatory.

Keep your group selected and duplicate it (Control-C > Control-V). Move the copy 80 px down, keep it selected, and press Control-J to add a new copy on top of your selection. Move this new group 80 px down, and then press Control-J a bunch of times to fill your entire artboard.

duplicate and move group copyduplicate and move group copyduplicate and move group copy

Step 7

Press Control-A to select all your squares and Group them (Control-G). Keep this new group selected, make sure that the Move Tool (V) is active, and focus on the Context Toolbar.

Simply click the Align Center and Align Middle buttons, which will move your group to the center of the artboard. Optionally, you can go to the Layers panel and rename your group “checkerboard pattern”.

center checkered patterncenter checkered patterncenter checkered pattern

3. How to make a warped checkered pattern: Method #1

Step 1

Make sure that your group is selected. Go to Layer > Warp > Group > Fish Eye or click the Warp button from the bottom of the Layers panel, and select Fish Eye from the menu.

warp checkerd pattern in Affinity Designer using Fish Eyewarp checkerd pattern in Affinity Designer using Fish Eyewarp checkerd pattern in Affinity Designer using Fish Eye

Step 2

Using the Node Tool (A), you can customize your mesh. Click and drag any mesh point to move it.

adjust warped checkered patternadjust warped checkered patternadjust warped checkered pattern

4. How to make a warped checkered pattern: Method #2

Step 1

If you’re not happy with the Fish Eye preset, you can try the Twist one. Here’s how it would look.

warp checkerd pattern in Affinity Designer using Twistwarp checkerd pattern in Affinity Designer using Twistwarp checkerd pattern in Affinity Designer using Twist

Step 2

Again, use the Node Tool (A) to move any mesh point, and keep in mind that you can also play with the node handles to create your custom warped checkered pattern.

edit warped checkered pattern in Affinity Designeredit warped checkered pattern in Affinity Designeredit warped checkered pattern in Affinity Designer

5. How to make a warped checkered pattern: Method #3

Step 1

If you want to start with a clean mesh, choose the Mesh option from the menu.

warp checkerd pattern in Affinity Designer using Meshwarp checkerd pattern in Affinity Designer using Meshwarp checkerd pattern in Affinity Designer using Mesh

Step 2

Use the Node Tool (A) and double-click whenever you wish to add a new mesh point.

how to add a mesh point in Affinity Designerhow to add a mesh point in Affinity Designerhow to add a mesh point in Affinity Designer

Step 3

It might take a bit of practice, but once you get used to using the Node Tool, you can create really cool wavy checkerboard patterns.

edit a warped checkerd patternedit a warped checkerd patternedit a warped checkerd pattern

6. How to recolor your wavy checkerboard pattern

Step 1

Select one of your yellow squares from the Layers panel and go to Select > Select Same > Fill Color to instantly select all the yellow squares. Once they’re selected, replace the yellow with R=137 G=239 B=218.

Return to the Layers panel, and this time select one of your red squares. Again, go to Select > Select Same > Fill Color to select all your red squares, and replace the red with R=61 G=175 B=211.

how to rapidly select element with the same fill color in Affinity Designerhow to rapidly select element with the same fill color in Affinity Designerhow to rapidly select element with the same fill color in Affinity Designer

Step 2

Obviously, you can try different colors for your wavy checkerboard pattern. Here’s just one of the many combos that you can try.

how to recolor a checkered pattern in Affinity Designerhow to recolor a checkered pattern in Affinity Designerhow to recolor a checkered pattern in Affinity Designer

Congratulations! You’re done!

Here is how your checkerboard pattern should look. I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial and can apply these techniques in your future projects.

Feel free to adjust the final checkerboard pattern and make it your own. You can find some great sources of inspiration at Envato, with interesting solutions to improve your checkerboard pattern.

warped checkered pattern in Affinity Designerwarped checkered pattern in Affinity Designerwarped checkered pattern in Affinity Designer

Popular checkerboard patterns from Envato

Envato is an excellent resource for checkerboard patterns. Here’s a short list of some of the most popular checkerboard patterns that you can find.

Seamless checkerboard pattern ( AI, EPS, JPG, PNG, PSD, SVG)

Take it to the next level with this vibrant checkerboard pattern. It’s a full vector design, so feel free to adjust the size and colors however it suits your needs.

seamless checkered patternseamless checkered patternseamless checkered pattern

Retro and wavy checkerboard patterns (EPS, JPG)

Go vintage with this set of retro patterns. The pack also includes a wavy checkerboard pattern. All the designs are 100% vector, so these can be easily resized without losing quality.

retro wavy checkered patternretro wavy checkered patternretro wavy checkered pattern

Warped checkered pattern (AI, EPS, JPG, PNG, PSD, SVG)

Keep it smooth and simple with this minimalist warped checkered pattern. This could be the perfect solution if you’re looking for a simple yet elegant design.

warped checkered patternwarped checkered patternwarped checkered pattern

Plaid checkerboard patterns (AI, EPS, AFDESIGN)

If you’re looking for something more complex, these plaid checkerboard patterns might be the perfect choice. The design is 100% vector, so you don’t have to worry if you need to make it larger.

plaid checkered patternplaid checkered patternplaid checkered pattern

Wavy checkerboard pattern with flowers (EPS, JPG)

Looking for more of a cartoonish design? Check out this wavy checkerboard pattern with flowers. Just add your text, and feel free to adjust the colors as you need.

wavy checkered pattern with flowerswavy checkered pattern with flowerswavy checkered pattern with flowers

Want to learn more?

We have loads of Affinity Designer tutorials on Envato Tuts+, from beginner to intermediate level. Take a look!


This content originally appeared on Envato Tuts+ Tutorials and was authored by Andrei Marius

Final product imageFinal product imageFinal product image
What You'll Be Creating

In this Affinity Designer tutorial, you will learn how to make a checkerboard pattern and how you can easily turn it into a wavy checkerboard pattern.

If you don't have the time to build your own warped checkered pattern from scratch, then Envato is the solution. This subscription-based marketplace has over 2,000 Illustrator add-ons you can download without restrictions!

Jump to content in this section:

1. How to create a new document and set up a grid

Step 1

Hit Control-N to create a new document. Select Pixels from the Document units drop-down menu, and set the Page width and Page height to 850 px. Set the DPI to 72, and then click Create.

create new document in Affinity Designercreate new document in Affinity Designercreate new document in Affinity Designer

Step 2

Go to View > Show Grid (Control-') to make the grid visible, and then focus on the Toolbar. Check the Force pixel Alignment, Move By Whole Pixels, and Snapping buttons, and then open the whole snapping menu to make sure that Snap to grid is enabled. Having all these settings enabled will make it easier for you to create pixel-perfect shapes.

Now, let's simplify the grid as you will only need a grid every 40 px. Go to View > Grid & Axis, click the Basic tab, and simply set the Spacing to 40 px. This way, you'll have a gridline every 40 px.

set up grid and enable snapping in Affinity Designerset up grid and enable snapping in Affinity Designerset up grid and enable snapping in Affinity Designer

2. How to make a checkerboard pattern

Step 1

Focus on your Tools. First, click the Stroke color and remove the color, and then double-click the Fill color and replace the existing color with R=255 G=15 B=38.

Select the Rectangle Tool (M) from your Tools and use it to add a 40 px square in the top-left corner of your artboard. As you'll see, the grid and the Snap to grid feature will come in handy.

create red square using the Rectangle Toolcreate red square using the Rectangle Toolcreate red square using the Rectangle Tool

Step 2

Use the Move Tool (V) to select your red square, and press Control-C and Control-V to add a copy. Move this copy 40 px down and 40 px to the right, as shown in the second image. Again, Snap to grid will make things a lot easier.

duplicate squareduplicate squareduplicate square

Step 3

Use the Move Tool (V) to select both of your shapes and duplicate them (Control-C > Control-V).

Keep the copies selected and move the cursor slightly outside one of the corners. Once your cursor turns into a rounded, double-sided arrow, you can click and drag to rotate the selection. Hold down the Shift key to rotate your selection in increments of 15 degrees. In the end, you need to rotate the copies 90 degrees, as shown in the second image.

Next, change the Fill color of these squares to R=251 G=192 B=36.

duplicate shapes rotate and recolorduplicate shapes rotate and recolorduplicate shapes rotate and recolor

Step 4

Select your four squares and duplicate them (Control-C > Control-V). Select these copies and move them 80 px to the right, as shown in the second image. Keep these copies selected.

duplicate and move shapesduplicate and move shapesduplicate and move shapes

Step 5

With the copies still selected, press Control-J. This will add a new set of copies on top of your selection.

Move these new copies 80 px to the right, as shown in the second image, and then press Control-J a bunch of times until you have a full row of squares covering the entire length of your artboard, as you can see in the third image.

repeat a duplicate and move command in Affinity Designerrepeat a duplicate and move command in Affinity Designerrepeat a duplicate and move command in Affinity Designer

Step 6

Use the Move Tool (V) or simply press Control-A to select all your squares. Press Control-G to quickly Group your selected shapes. You can also go to the Layers panel (Window > Layers) to rename this group "Row", but that's not mandatory.

Keep your group selected and duplicate it (Control-C > Control-V). Move the copy 80 px down, keep it selected, and press Control-J to add a new copy on top of your selection. Move this new group 80 px down, and then press Control-J a bunch of times to fill your entire artboard.

duplicate and move group copyduplicate and move group copyduplicate and move group copy

Step 7

Press Control-A to select all your squares and Group them (Control-G). Keep this new group selected, make sure that the Move Tool (V) is active, and focus on the Context Toolbar.

Simply click the Align Center and Align Middle buttons, which will move your group to the center of the artboard. Optionally, you can go to the Layers panel and rename your group "checkerboard pattern".

center checkered patterncenter checkered patterncenter checkered pattern

3. How to make a warped checkered pattern: Method #1

Step 1

Make sure that your group is selected. Go to Layer > Warp > Group > Fish Eye or click the Warp button from the bottom of the Layers panel, and select Fish Eye from the menu.

warp checkerd pattern in Affinity Designer using Fish Eyewarp checkerd pattern in Affinity Designer using Fish Eyewarp checkerd pattern in Affinity Designer using Fish Eye

Step 2

Using the Node Tool (A), you can customize your mesh. Click and drag any mesh point to move it.

adjust warped checkered patternadjust warped checkered patternadjust warped checkered pattern

4. How to make a warped checkered pattern: Method #2

Step 1

If you're not happy with the Fish Eye preset, you can try the Twist one. Here's how it would look.

warp checkerd pattern in Affinity Designer using Twistwarp checkerd pattern in Affinity Designer using Twistwarp checkerd pattern in Affinity Designer using Twist

Step 2

Again, use the Node Tool (A) to move any mesh point, and keep in mind that you can also play with the node handles to create your custom warped checkered pattern.

edit warped checkered pattern in Affinity Designeredit warped checkered pattern in Affinity Designeredit warped checkered pattern in Affinity Designer

5. How to make a warped checkered pattern: Method #3

Step 1

If you want to start with a clean mesh, choose the Mesh option from the menu.

warp checkerd pattern in Affinity Designer using Meshwarp checkerd pattern in Affinity Designer using Meshwarp checkerd pattern in Affinity Designer using Mesh

Step 2

Use the Node Tool (A) and double-click whenever you wish to add a new mesh point.

how to add a mesh point in Affinity Designerhow to add a mesh point in Affinity Designerhow to add a mesh point in Affinity Designer

Step 3

It might take a bit of practice, but once you get used to using the Node Tool, you can create really cool wavy checkerboard patterns.

edit a warped checkerd patternedit a warped checkerd patternedit a warped checkerd pattern

6. How to recolor your wavy checkerboard pattern

Step 1

Select one of your yellow squares from the Layers panel and go to Select > Select Same > Fill Color to instantly select all the yellow squares. Once they're selected, replace the yellow with R=137 G=239 B=218.

Return to the Layers panel, and this time select one of your red squares. Again, go to Select > Select Same > Fill Color to select all your red squares, and replace the red with R=61 G=175 B=211.

how to rapidly select element with the same fill color in Affinity Designerhow to rapidly select element with the same fill color in Affinity Designerhow to rapidly select element with the same fill color in Affinity Designer

Step 2

Obviously, you can try different colors for your wavy checkerboard pattern. Here's just one of the many combos that you can try.

how to recolor a checkered pattern in Affinity Designerhow to recolor a checkered pattern in Affinity Designerhow to recolor a checkered pattern in Affinity Designer

Congratulations! You're done!

Here is how your checkerboard pattern should look. I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial and can apply these techniques in your future projects.

Feel free to adjust the final checkerboard pattern and make it your own. You can find some great sources of inspiration at Envato, with interesting solutions to improve your checkerboard pattern.

warped checkered pattern in Affinity Designerwarped checkered pattern in Affinity Designerwarped checkered pattern in Affinity Designer

Envato is an excellent resource for checkerboard patterns. Here's a short list of some of the most popular checkerboard patterns that you can find.

Seamless checkerboard pattern ( AI, EPS, JPG, PNG, PSD, SVG)

Take it to the next level with this vibrant checkerboard pattern. It's a full vector design, so feel free to adjust the size and colors however it suits your needs.

seamless checkered patternseamless checkered patternseamless checkered pattern

Retro and wavy checkerboard patterns (EPS, JPG)

Go vintage with this set of retro patterns. The pack also includes a wavy checkerboard pattern. All the designs are 100% vector, so these can be easily resized without losing quality.

retro wavy checkered patternretro wavy checkered patternretro wavy checkered pattern

Warped checkered pattern (AI, EPS, JPG, PNG, PSD, SVG)

Keep it smooth and simple with this minimalist warped checkered pattern. This could be the perfect solution if you're looking for a simple yet elegant design.

warped checkered patternwarped checkered patternwarped checkered pattern

Plaid checkerboard patterns (AI, EPS, AFDESIGN)

If you're looking for something more complex, these plaid checkerboard patterns might be the perfect choice. The design is 100% vector, so you don't have to worry if you need to make it larger.

plaid checkered patternplaid checkered patternplaid checkered pattern

Wavy checkerboard pattern with flowers (EPS, JPG)

Looking for more of a cartoonish design? Check out this wavy checkerboard pattern with flowers. Just add your text, and feel free to adjust the colors as you need.

wavy checkered pattern with flowerswavy checkered pattern with flowerswavy checkered pattern with flowers

Want to learn more?

We have loads of Affinity Designer tutorials on Envato Tuts+, from beginner to intermediate level. Take a look!


This content originally appeared on Envato Tuts+ Tutorials and was authored by Andrei Marius


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