Add a Monogram to a Flag Pattern Necktie

From the Albania necktie product page in Zazzle, click on EDIT THIS DESIGN.

Click on LAYERS to open the left-hand panel.

To get familiar with the pattern, let's click on the PREVIEW window.

To preview the design, click on the thumbnails on the left side of the large image.   I find the bottom three previews the most helpful in evaluating patterns.   Once you are familiar with the pattern, click the X in the upper right-hand corner to close the window and return to the art board.

The pattern is based on a single tile. If it is not selected, click the tile name in the layers panel and it will be highlighted on the art board.

Change the ROTATE setting in the right-hand panel to 45°.   This new angle aligns the pattern with the bottom trim of the necktie (the pointy end). This makes it easier to integrate a monogram within the pattern.  Now we need to create a background for our monogram.  To do that, click on ELEMENTS in the left panel.

Click on the square under CONFIGURABLE SHAPES. This will place a square element on the art board.

The square element on the art board is very large and appears to have blotted out the pattern, but there's no need to be concerned.   Using the SCALE option in the right-hand panel, click on the - button several times to shrink the square until it fits on the necktie.

Now enter 45° in the ROTATE field. This will turn the square into a diamond.

Click on the LAYERS icon in the left-hand panel.

In the layers panel, click the pattern file name to select it. On the art board, click and drag the pattern tile, centering it over the diamond element.

Centering guidelines should appear on the art board when you have the pattern tile centered over the diamond element. It may be difficult to see because of the pattern.   Once you've done this, the entire pattern on the art board may shift slightly.

It's likely the diamond shaped element is not exactly the same size as the pattern tile at this point. If not, in the layers panel, click on the rectangle (that's the diamond shaped element on the art board).

Resize the diamond shaped element by using the SCALE option in the right-hand panel.   Increase or decrease the size of the diamond shaped element by using the + or - buttons.   Resize the diamond shaped element so that it is slightly larger than the pattern tile.

In the right-hand panel, select FILL COLOR. Then, click on the eyedropper tool located below the color swatches.

Move the eyedropper tool over an area of the pattern that is black and click.   This will become the background color for the monogram.

In most cases, at this point we would use a medicine dropper tool to select a border color for our monogram background.   However, in this case, our background doesn't need a border to stand out against the pattern, so we'll skip that step.   We'll set the border thickness of the diamond element to 0, which removes the border altogether.

In the left-hand panel, click the text icon.

Now click the ADD TEXT button.

Enter an initial in the pop-up window, and click OK.

In the right-hand panel, click FONT.

Select a type font, then select a color (you may use the eyedropper tool to select a color from the pattern, if you like), and select a font size that fits within the diamond background.

Click and drag the monogram, centering it within the diamond shape background. Centering guidelines should appear when you have centered the text over the diamond.   However, many times type fonts don't appear centered even when guidelines indicate they are.   To make subtle changes to the type position, use the LINE SPACING option in the right panel. Try increasing or decreasing line spacing using the up and down arrows on the control.  Once you have the monogram and the background centered, click on the LAYERS icon in the left panel.

In the LAYERS panel, while holding down the SHIFT KEY, click on both the text item and the rectangle (that's the monogram and its background on the art board).  Position your mouse over the monogram on the art board and right-click, then select GROUP.

From the pulldown menu at the top of the screen, select ALIGN and then select the ALIGN TO BOTTOM icon. This will move the monogram to the bottom of the necktie. (You can manually drag the monogram to the bottom of the necktie, but using the align function keeps it centered.) Now scroll down.

Holding your shift key down, drag the monogram upward until its bottom point is just above the angled trim of the necktie. Try to position the monogram’s diamond shaped background so that it fits within the background pattern.

Check the positioning of the monogram using the preview window.

The rolled tie preview will give you a close-up look at how well your monogram is positioned. Try to nestle it into the background pattern so that it fits between the flags. You may need to adjust the position of the monogram and check its position with this preview several times until you get the result you like.  To close the preview, click the X in the upper right-hand corner of the window and you will return to the art board.

One final task to complete. We need to copy our altered pattern to the backside of the necktie.  First, select the pattern tile in the LAYERS panel.   Move your mouse to the selected tile pattern on the art board and right-click. Choose COPY.  In the LAYERS panel, select BACK. That will take us to the backside of the necktie.

On the back of the tie, right-click on the selected pattern tile and choose DELETE. This delete the old pattern tile.

Right-click on the empty art board and choose PASTE.

Click the DONE button in the upper right-hand corner.

You can do one last preview of your necktie by clicking the thumbnails on the left side. Once you're satisfied, click the ADD TO CART button to begin the purchase process.