Metallic patterns on freestanding ultrathin supports are desirable for many applications in modern optics or nanomechanics. The authors present four fabrication paths to create gold patterns that are supported by 1 nm thick freestanding graphenoid nanomembranes from self-assembled monolayers. Two fabrication schemes apply resist based lithographic processes to define gold structures on nanosheets. The gold/nanomembrane hybrids are then released from their substrates to form a freestanding structure. In two further fabrication schemes, the direct metal deposition of metal onto a freestanding graphenoid is performed. All four schemes are capable of producing gold patterns on two-dimensional nanomaterials, thus resembling new paths for the routine fabrication of free-floating metallic structures. (c) 2010 American Vacuum Society. [DOI: 10.1116/1.3511475]