All glossary terms
Pattern & Repeat

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).

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.

Related terms

Seamless tile
A rectangular image whose left edge continues into its right edge and whose top edge continues into its bottom edge, allowing it to repeat across a surface without visible seams.
Block repeat
A repeat structure where every tile is identical and aligned in a perfect grid. The simplest seamless pattern type — left edge meets right edge, top meets bottom, with no offset between adjacent tiles.
DPI
Dots per inch — the resolution at which a digital design will be printed. Directly determines print quality and file size. Textile printing uses 72-600 DPI depending on print method.
Selvage
The finished edge of a roll of fabric, perpendicular to the direction of weaving or printing. Used as a registration reference and quality-check zone in textile printing.

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