Use pattern as fill color

Hi Esteban thanks for posting. Unfortunately we don't currently support pattern fill for shapes but it's a great idea! I’ve converted this post to an Idea in our Product Feedback space so that you and others can add more detail about what you’d like to see in this experience and upvote it. In the meantime you could achieve a pattern fill effect using our image fill feature- see below. Hope this helps!

+1 
Trying to push this topic again. I think it is a very handy feature the competition has it and I do not understand why Lucidchart does not provide the fill pattern functionalility as it seems to me a basic feature for any drawing software. Unfortunately Lucidchart does have many of such limitations which I would consider as being basic functionality.

Hi @maximilian m thanks for continuing this thread and sharing your feedback about why a pattern fill option would be useful to you! We'd love to hear more about your use case and what you'd like to see in this experience via this thread. You mention that you feel Lucidchart is missing similar basic features - we'd love to understand these areas of improvement too!

Hatching / pattern fill is useful when showing how a task has been extended beyond its original duration.

It’s helpful to demarkate areas on a floor plan (such as reduced head height or hazardous zones).

On UI mock ups I have used pattern fill to mask areas so that a key element is displayed more prominently.

It’s a lighter-weight fill option that isn’t so obvious where subtle highlights are required.

The pattern fill colour options should be the same range of colours as the current fill options to ensure that a continuation of colour is available (especially useful for the first use case).

Ima, this is such excellent detail! Thank you for taking the time to let us know how you’d use this - so valuable. 🙏

Pattern fill is often used in both mechanical engineering and the construction industry. Being able to print black and white copies with objects containing a unique pattern makes it easier for the reader to identify and distinguish between different types of materials where a clear understanding can be absolutely critical to getting the job done right. 

For example, imagine you are adding an extension to your house. To design it, you might sketch a drawing of the walls, but it's hard to tell from just lines if it's made of wood, brick, or something else. That's where pattern fills come in for engineers and construction workers.

Pattern fills are like tiny stamps that fill in areas of a drawing to show what materials are used. They act like a code:

• Lines filling an area could mean wood 
• A criss-cross pattern could represent concrete
• Squares might show steel

This helps engineers and construction workers quickly understand what a part is made of and how strong it will be and avoid wrong assumptions or mistakes that could lead to delays and unnecessary costs.

P.s. I need Pattern Fills, too.

This is an interesting idea but it won’t solve the problem. As the image will distort as you change the size, it will create make it difficult for people to correctly identify which objects are of the correct material type and provide them with an excuse that justifies why the drew the wrong conclusion.

After more exploration, the Image Fill option is good enough for me. I’ve created a .jpg file that I’ve imported that is sized to produce a seamless image when the Tile option is selected. What this means is that when I change the size of the shape, the image retains its resolution and does not scale (because it tiles). 

Color fill is helpful to categorize items. I prefer not relying only on color to carry meaning in documents because colorblindness is a common disability. Having access to hatching or checker patterns in addition to color would help me make my diagrams more accessible to more people.

Thanks for this detail and callout for accessibility, @Tom F !

I second Tom. Pattern fill would be useful for me for accessibility purposes as a lot of people in my industry is color blind. Other than that, it would also work if you were making a black and white copy.

@YoungK2 Great feedback! Thanks for this comment, noted!

I am using crosshatching to show overlapping areas of interest.  For example, I am using a color coded left slash to show where a department is responsible for large portions of a process.  Within that, I’m using a right slash to show the name of the person in the department that has specific responsibility for a specific task.  When overlayed the chart will show who covers what areas, what areas are not covered, and whether a person or department is over- or under-utilized.