Complete Guide to Repper Export Settings: Tiles, Surfaces, DPI & Vector Patterns

Getting the right export settings can make the difference between a blurry, unusable pattern and a crisp design ready for professional printing or digital use. Repper handles most of the technical complexity, but understanding your export options ensures you get the best possible results for any project.

Understanding tiles vs surfaces

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Repper offers three export formats: tiles, surfaces, and 3D previews. The choice between tiles and surfaces depends entirely on how you plan to use your pattern.

Surface exports show your pattern repeated across a larger area, just like you see in the app most of the time. If you know exactly how you'll use your pattern—printing on fabric as a fat quarter at 150 DPI, for example—surface exports get you what you need in one go. You can set any size and repeat the pattern as much or as little as you want.

The catch? Surface exports are usually not repeatable on their own.

Tile exports give you a single repeatable unit of your pattern. This format offers maximum flexibility because you can repeat the tile at any size later in graphics software like Photoshop or upload it to print-on-demand services like Spoonflower or Zazzle. These services can repeat your tile automatically, making uploads faster and giving you more design control.

When exporting tiles, stick with the default "maximum" option. Repper automatically calculates the largest possible tile from your source image, giving you the most flexibility for later use.

Setting custom sizes and DPI

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By default, surface exports match exactly what you see in the app. For custom sizing, choose the "custom" option and set your dimensions.

The export size defaults to pixels, and in this mode the DPI setting won't affect your image resolution. But if you're printing and know your exact size and DPI requirements, switch to physical units like inches.

When you use physical units, Repper automatically calculates pixel dimensions based on your size and DPI. A 10×10 inch pattern at 300 DPI becomes a 3000×3000 pixel image.

Before exporting, adjust the repeat counts to get the look you want. Most surface exports aren't repeatable because the horizontal or vertical repeat count isn't a whole number. This is perfectly fine if the surface is your final output.

Making surfaces repeatable

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Want a surface export that tiles seamlessly? Click the lock button next to the repeat counts to unlock manual control. Set both horizontal and vertical repeats to whole numbers, and your surface will tile like a single repeating unit.

In most cases, you're better off exporting as a tile if you need repeatability—it's the most compact option. But repeatable surfaces work well when you need a specific size with seamless edges.

The same constraints apply here as with tile exports. Some tilings and effects simply aren't tileable by design.

Vector exports and scalability

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Vector exports make your patterns completely scale-independent. The export options work the same way, but size settings won't impact image detail since vectors scale infinitely.

Remember: what goes in comes out. Only patterns made from vector source images can be exported as vectors. If you uploaded raster images, your export will be raster too.

3D preview exports

3D previews aren't just for design review—they make excellent promotional materials. Export them at up to 2000×2000 pixels, and choose PNG format to get transparent backgrounds for easy placement in other graphics software.

Avoiding upscaling issues

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Keep an eye out for upscaling warnings during export. When you see one, Repper offers one-click solutions: keep your export size but increase repeats, or maintain the repeat count but reduce resolution.

You can always ignore the warning and accept some upscaling, but try to keep it below 10-20% for best quality results. Beyond that threshold, you'll start seeing noticeable quality degradation.

Batch exporting snapshots

There's an option to export all your snapshots at once, which works especially well for tiles at maximum size. Each tile exports at its own ideal dimensions.

For surface exports, all snapshots use the same size and repeat count from your export settings. This might not work well if your snapshots vary significantly in scale or complexity.

For full control over each surface design, export them one by one instead of using the batch option.