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Frame your board with repeating artwork. Start with one design or a sequence of different tiles, choose the edges it follows, and edit each unique tile to update every repeat.
About 8 minutesClipart, shapes, and groupsSide and tile controls
1. Prepare artwork and create the border
The example starts with Gold Christmas Ornament. It adds Wavy Rectangle from the library and Open Book with Blank Pages from the canvas.
Use library clipart, uploaded images, supported shapes, or non-empty groups already on your board. A single source repeats one design. Several sources create a repeating sequence.
Text alone cannot become a border tile. To repeat a design containing text, group the prepared text with compatible artwork first. Show and unlock sources before selecting them; existing banners and board borders cannot become new border tiles.
Add and prepare your artwork. Set its colors and proportions. For multiple sources, arrange them from left to right in the order you want repeated.
Select the sources. Select one item or multi-select the complete sequence.
Choose Create Border. Open More selection actions if the command is inside the toolbar menu.
BoardCraft replaces the selected sources with a Board border element following all four sides. It determines the initial sequence from the sources' left-to-right positions. You can change the order and layout afterward.
2. Choose the sides to decorate
Select the border and open Properties. Under Apply to sides, toggle the top, right, bottom, and left buttons. Keep all four for a full frame, choose top and bottom for two strips, or use one edge for a simpler accent.
At least one side stays enabled. To temporarily remove the entire border from view, use Hide selected or its visibility control in Layers.
The artwork rotates to follow each edge: right-side tiles turn a quarter turn, bottom tiles a half turn, and left-side tiles three quarters of a turn. Directional artwork or lettering will rotate too, so check its orientation on every active side.
3. Adjust size, spacing, and edge placement
Turn Edit Tiles off to return to Basics. Scroll the Properties inspector to reach all layout controls.
Control | What it changes |
|---|---|
Tile width (in) | The repeat size. With Keep ratio enabled, smaller tiles give more repeats. For a mixed sequence, this width refers to the first tile; other tiles keep their proportions at the shared height. |
Distance from edge (in) | The placement of the whole border relative to each active edge. Positive values move inward; negative values move outward. |
Tile spacing (in) | The gap between neighboring tiles. |
Tile shift (in) | The sequence's position along each active side. Use it to adjust which tiles meet the ends and corners. |
Opacity (%) | The transparency of the complete border. |
Use a value field, its minus and plus buttons, or the slider. Commit a typed value by pressing Enter or leaving the field. Keep Keep ratio enabled to preserve the artwork's proportions.
4. Reorder or remove tiles
Choose Edit Tiles in the selection toolbar. Properties shows one card for each unique tile in the sequence, rather than a card for every visible repeat.
Use a card's earlier or later arrow, or drag its reorder handle, to change the sequence. Use its remove button to remove that tile and all of its repeats. The last tile cannot be removed; use Undo if a change was accidental.
Changes update the border immediately. There is no separate Apply step for these edits.
5. Add or replace artwork
Choose Add from library to append artwork. Browse Clipart, SVG Shapes, or My Uploads; SVG Shapes includes Banners and Borders categories. Each selection appends immediately. Closing the library keeps those changes.
To change an existing tile, use that card's Replace tile button and choose its replacement from the library. Recheck its size and appearance afterward, especially when switching between an image and a shape.
Prepare separate canvas sources. Duplicate them first if you want to keep standalone copies.
Choose Add from canvas. Click eligible objects on the board and check the pending tile count.
Choose Add Pending. The selected sources become tiles appended in left-to-right order and are absorbed into the border.
6. Style tiles and move one design inward or outward
Open a tile card's appearance controls. Opacity and Rotation affect that unique tile throughout the border. Available fill, stroke, and shadow controls depend on the artwork type.
Supported shape tiles offer Color, Pattern, and Gradient fills plus applicable stroke and shadow effects. Image tiles have opacity, rotation, and offset controls. Group tiles expose controls for their contents. See Style Elements with Patterns, Gradients, Outlines, and Shadows for the shared styling options.
Inward / outward offset (%) moves only the selected tile design relative to the edge. Positive values move inward; negative values move outward. The amount is based on that tile's height. Use Reset to return it to zero.
7. Convert the border back to separate elements
Select the border and choose Convert Back. BoardCraft restores one object for each unique tile in the sequence. It does not create a separate object for every visible repeat around the frame.
Use Undo to restore the repeating border if you only wanted to inspect the sources.
8. Check the frame and prepare to export
Fit the board to the screen to assess the complete frame, then zoom in to inspect its corners. Artwork moved outside the board can be clipped, so check the board preview before exporting.
If you see this | Try this |
|---|---|
Create Border is unavailable | Show and unlock sources, remove unsupported selections, and check that you have eligible artwork. |
The border crowds the title | Reduce Tile width or adjust Distance from edge. Check individual tile offsets too. |
Tiles overlap at a corner | Adjust tile size, spacing, or shift, then inspect all four corners again. |
Layout controls are missing | Turn Edit Tiles off, open Properties, and scroll to Basics. |
Controls cannot be edited | Check whether the border is locked and unlock it before editing. |