This category of our website is dedicated to ornamental border designs (borders, frieze patterns, frame patterns).

Ornamental border designs  (or border patterns) line the surface of a specific shape where some content (text, image, motif, design...) is found. In addition to the fact that each border design directs attention to the content within, it also prevents the content to get out of the defined borders and overlap the neighboring motifs.

The choice of the border design depends on personal taste, whereby there is a general recommendation that might come in handy, found in a book on art history: the border design should be in accordance with the design of the content that it encircles. If it encircles a content that is not visually appealing, then the border should have an attractive design. On the contrary, if it encircles some attractive content, then the boarder design should be less attractive so as not to distract attention away from the content. For example, if the border encloses a text, it is the border itself that should be attractive because the text is less interesting in appearance. This is just a small, helpful hint for selecting the right border, as the border design depends on many factors.

The border does not have to be of regular geometric shape, but of any irregular shape. If the border pattern encloses an irregular shape at its center, its inner margin can follow the irregular contour of the content and the external margin may be regular, or vice versa.

Frieze patterns and border patterns are very similar. Frieze patterns can be made from most border patterns by cutting the segment and copying it. Also, border patterns can be made from most of the frieze patterns if you solve the corner rotation.

Border design can also be created from corner deigns by copying them into corners, which allows space in the middle to place the content.  If you have not found a border design to your liking in this category, visit the category Sign and sign end patterns of that may help you find inspiration, as ornamental signs, borders and frames can be very similar.

All border designs in this category are free to use for personal use and some of them can be used commercially. These designs are under Creative Commons Attribution License. Before you make use of these border pattens in your project, please check and observe the license that we have prescribed.

All the ornamental border designs will be available in universal vector file formats (svg and eps), as well as in .dwg file format which is the most commonly used 2D format.

We'd love to see what you create using our border designs and have your work featured in our Showroom gallery.

This is a collection of decorative frame designs, which, as you can see in the picture are very beautiful and elegant.

The picture shows the appearance of nine repeating patterns that you can download here, which we called the 'Floral frieze designs'.

Here you can download a collection of 23 Indian frieze patterns. All the patterns come from two old books with the theme of history of decorative art.

This is a large collection of 57 patterns named interlaced border corners according to their pattern type and purpose.

On this page you can download a collection of 20 ribbon designs that we have found in different old books.

On this page you can download a collection of 26 ribbons and scrolls. All of them have been found in old books.

 

On this page you can download a collection of 18 scroll banners.

In the collection which you can download here, there are 27 scroll designs.

Here you can download a large collection of 31 scroll line frames. They are very easy to draw, especially in 2D CAD or vector software.

The frame border in the picture is called the conventionalized leaf border and we have drawn it in Inkscape vector software.

In front of you there is a corner floral ornament, ready for download and use in your graphic or craft projects.

Here you can download an interesting vertical rectangular frame border that we found on the cover of an old book.

This is a set of four curved frieze patterns. All of them come from public domain books and have been converted to this useful set by using 2D CAD software.

As you can see in the picture, you can download three stencil frame borders here which we have descriptively named 'Decorative floral borders'.

Here we present to you a collection of 3 decorative line borders of rectangular shape.

This is a collection that contains 4 decorative sign ends. All the signs are fully editable, so you can modify them to meet your design specifications.

If you are engaged in embroidery craft and need a square-shaped tablecloth design (actually square-shaped border), you might like this one here that you can download in 2D CAD and vector file formats.

The square pattern that you can see in the picture was found in an old book and we named it after the inscription beneath the image of the design: Design for a linen damask napkin by Prof. C. Graft, Manufactured by Mr. J. Meyer in Dresden.

On this page you can download the collection of 'border designs' called Elizabethan cartouches.

On this page you can download an elliptical sign design with a dragon on each side.

 

This is an Etruscan ornament seen on a vase artifact discovered at a site that belonged to the Etruscan civilization.

On this page you can download a floral border design of a vertical rectangular shape.

There is a high demand for frame border patterns, especially with floral motifs, so we present one here.

If you need a rectangular frame with floral motifs, why don’t you take a look at this picture!? If you like what you see, feel free to download!