A carboxylic-terminated nanometer-scale chemical pattern on an octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) surface can guide the deposition and crystallization of iodine, forming an iodine pattern on the chemical pattern. The iodine in the pattern is gel-like when fabricated by the solution-deposit method. In contrast, a dendritic, snowflake-shaped polycrystalline iodine sheet is formed by the vapor-phase condensation method. The data demonstrate that iodine is a good tracing and visualizing agent for studying liquid behavior at the nano scale. The topography of the iodine stain reveals that the "coffee ring" effect can be suppressed by reducing the pattern size and increasing the evaporation rate. The chemical template-bound iodine pattern has an unusually low vapor pressure and it can withstand prolonged baking at elevated temperature, which differs significantly from bulk iodine crystals.