What is Rapport?
The repeat unit in textile design — the smallest tile that, when repeated, produces the full pattern. Synonymous with 'tile' in seamless-pattern terminology.
In detail
Rapport is the French-origin term used in textile design and printing for the basic repeating unit of a pattern. It is synonymous with 'tile' or 'repeat unit' but has stronger industrial connotations — print partners and mills use 'rapport' more than 'tile'. The rapport size is specified in physical units (centimeters or inches) along with the digital pixel dimensions and DPI: a 30cm × 30cm rapport at 300 DPI is a 3543 × 3543 pixel tile. Rapport size affects production cost (larger rapports use more memory in digital printing, more screens in screen printing), aesthetic effect (small rapports look busy at viewing distance, large rapports look like wallpaper), and color matching (smaller rapports require tighter color tolerance because errors repeat more frequently). Designers also choose rapport size to align with garment cut economics — a 30 cm rapport repeats exactly five times across a standard 150 cm fabric width, leaving no awkward partial tiles at the cut edge. Mismatched rapport-to-width ratios produce visible 'cut waste' that buyers see and price down accordingly.
Example
A 'rapport of 25 cm at 300 DPI' specification means the tile must be 2952 × 2952 pixels in the production file, and one repeat unit will measure 25 cm by 25 cm on the printed fabric.