A continuous near-field electrospinning (NFES) process has been developed to deposit solid nanofibers with orderly patterns over large areas. Before the onset of electrospinning, a bias voltage is applied to a semispherical shaped polymer droplet outside of a syringe needle, and a probe tip mechanically draws a single fiber from the droplet to initiate continuous NFES. Contrary to the conventional electrospinning process, we show that decreasing electrical field in continuous NFES results in smaller linewidth deposition, and nanofibers can be assembled into controlled complex patterns such as circular shapes and grid arrays on large and flat areas. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.