PatterNodes is a tool for creating graphical patterns, gradients, or illustrations based on repetitions. This is done by defining a sequence of steps, a recipe of sorts, that describes the pattern. Each pattern element or operation is represented by a little panel called a node, and the nodes are then linked by connections drawn between them. As the nodes can be freely combined and connected, this gives you a very flexible and powerful interface.

While this interface requires a different way of thinking, it also offers a lot of benefits compared to traditional Illustrator-type editors. Most importantly it enables you to use sliders to instantly change any aspect, like color, spacing, scaling, rotation or repetition count of any part of the pattern without having to undo/redo any steps.

The resulting pattern tile is always shown in the bottom preview view, repeated and updating in real time with any changes, giving you instant feedback of what the end result will be. To make pattern creation easier PatterNodes also includes a lot of nodes that automatically perform common tedious tasks like repeating elements at the tile edges to make the pattern seamless, or randomizing different aspects (like color, position, rotation, etc.) of the elements in a pattern to give it a little more life. Finally, when you're done you can simply copy the pattern tile into whatever illustration or graphics application you use, or export it either as vector graphics or a bitmap image file.

Note: Don't forget to check out the new sample and tutorial files included in the update!

Major new features

• New Array Merge node. Letting you chain multiple array operations in new ways, for example splitting an array to modify some elements, then joining it back together to apply another effect to all elements.
• Color Gradient and Color List nodes. New nodes giving you better and more convenient control over color patterns and gradients applied to an array of pattern elements based on some value (like the element array index).

Other changes and fixes

• New Value List node that lets you specify a list of values and outputs one of them based on an input index value.
• Fixed a couple of bugs with the Random Value node that would incorrectly give infinite loop warnings when both the min and max parameters would be connected.
• Added a +/- range option to Random value and Value Remap nodes, making it more convenient to set symmetrical ranges around 0.
• When copying/exporting vector graphics that do not stick out over the tile edges no clipping rectangle is added, making it more convenient to copy them straight into wherever you want to use the graphics.
• Improved error messages for network problems and handling incorrectly formatted e-mail accounts when unlocking the full version.
• Fixed a bug where duplicating note nodes would not copy the note text.
• Fixed a bug where deleting text in a save dialogue could delete selected nodes in the background.
• Fixed a bug where the Array Transform node Scale Y field would not be properly disabled when uniform scaling was selected.
• Fixed a bug where the Array Transform node would not let you scale elements to 0.
• Fixed a few display bugs with the hover value controls.