Start Here: Find the Right Course for Where You Are Now
Not sure where to begin? You’re in the right place. The Print School courses are designed to take you from your very first sketch all the way to a professional design career — one skill-building step at a time. Use this guide to find the right starting point for you.
Stage 1: Complete Beginner
"I love art and pattern but I’ve never studied design or used Photoshop."
Start with: The Ultimate Handbook for Surface Designers
Before you invest in a full course, start here. The Ultimate Handbook is a beginner’s guide to the world of surface pattern design — what it is, how the industry works, and how designers actually make money from their artwork. It’s the orientation you need before you start learning the technical skills.
What you’ll learn: what surface pattern design is, how to monetise your work, your first steps forward.
Then: The Beginners Course for Surface Design
This is the foundational course for anyone starting from scratch. You’ll walk step-by-step through the complete design process — from hand-drawn sketch through to a finished, repeating digital pattern. No prior Photoshop experience needed.
What you’ll learn: how to draw for surface design, basic Photoshop, your first repeat pattern, understanding the commercial market.
Stage 2: Building Foundational Skills
"I understand the basics. Now I want to improve my technical skills and produce better work."
Colour Theory for Surface Design
Colour is what sells a print. This course teaches you how to build commercially appealing colour palettes, understand colour relationships, and edit your colours with precision in Photoshop. If your designs feel almost-right but not quite, this is almost certainly the missing piece.
What you’ll learn: colour theory for print, building colourways, Photoshop colour editing techniques, colour proportion and composition.
Photoshop for Fabric Design: Illustration
A deep dive into Photoshop specifically for surface design. This course covers all the technical skills you need to construct industry-level designs and repeating patterns — the nuts and bolts that make the difference between amateur and professional work.
What you’ll learn: Photoshop workflow for surface design, constructing repeats, file preparation, illustration techniques.
Stage 3: Industry-Level Technical Skills
"I’m comfortable with Photoshop and I want to work faster and produce more sophisticated designs."
The Complete Repeat Course
The square repeat is the industry standard — and this course will make you exceptional at it. You'll also cover borders, engineered designs, and Photoshop's Pattern Preview. But the real focus is design quality: composition, negative space, and colour distribution. The goal isn't just a technically correct repeat — it's one that sings. Photoshop experience required.
10 Stunning Designs Without Weeks in Photoshop
A deep dive into Photoshop specifically for surface design. This course covers all the technical skills you need to construct industry-level designs and repeating patterns — the nuts and bolts that make the difference between amateur and professional work.
What you’ll learn: Photoshop workflow for surface design, constructing repeats, file preparation, illustration techniques.
Gouache Paisleys (Specialist Medium Courses)
Paisley is one of the most enduring motifs in fashion print — and one of the most technically demanding to draw well. This course takes you through the full process: constructing the paisley form from scratch, building up detail and depth in gouache, and taking your finished artwork into Photoshop to create a professional surface design. A specialist course for designers who want to add a distinctive hand-crafted motif to their portfolio.
Gouache Roses (Specialist Medium Courses)
Flat gouache painting has a graphic, vintage quality that translates beautifully to fabric and is very saleable across fashion and homewares. In this course, you'll learn from a master painter how to build a fully rendered rose bloom in gouache — petal by petal — and then take your artwork into Photoshop to produce a finished, print-ready design. Perfect for designers who want a signature floral style that stands apart from watercolour.
NEW Watercolour Florals for Surface Design: Intensive
Watercolour florals are one of the most commercially enduring motifs in fashion and homewares — and this course teaches you how to paint and produce three different styles at a professional level. It's a full creative-to-commercial workflow: you'll start by learning to paint expressive, dimensionally rich florals and then you'll take that painted artwork through the complete Photoshop workflow to produce finished, portfolio-ready prints.
Stage 4: Building Your Design Career
"I have strong technical skills. Now I want to turn this into a sustainable income."
The Comprehensive Business Builder
The business side of surface design, taught by people who have run a successful print studio for over 35 years. You’ll learn how to identify sales opportunities, price your work correctly, pitch to buyers, and develop a professional business identity. For experienced designers who are ready to take their work to market.
What you’ll learn: how to sell surface designs, pricing strategy, buyer outreach, portfolio strategy, building your design business.
The Print Design Career Accelerator
The flagship intensive course for serious designers. Over 14 weeks, you’ll complete 10 full designs, receive detailed feedback, and build a portfolio that’s ready to show buyers. The course covers market insights, design efficiency, client skills, and practical strategies for building a sustainable income from your design work.
What you’ll learn: professional portfolio development, client skills, market positioning, design technique at an industry level.
Still Not Sure? We’re Here to Help.
Our courses are a real investment, and we want to make sure you start in exactly the right place. Email us at [email protected] and we’ll help you work out which course fits where you are right now and where you want to go.
