Inside Photoshop: The Spectrum of Gradients
Application: Photoshop 5/5.5/6
Operating systems: Macintosh, Windows
A simple gradient can make a flat, colorless background exciting, blend photos together, add color to black-and-white line art, and much more. In this article, we’ll show you how to make your own gradients and we’ll go over a series of techniques used to create interesting effects, by incorporating gradients. You’ll discover a whole spectrum of opportunities for your designs by using gradients to their full potential.
The Basics
Fundamentally, gradients are gradual blends of two or more colors. If you click and hold the Linear Gradient tool button, you’ll then have access to the Radial Gradient, Angle Gradient, Reflected Gradient and Diamond Gradient tools. If you’re using Photoshop 6, once you select the Gradient tool each of the specified gradients will be available to you in the Gradient tool option bar. To apply a gradient, select a gradient style that you prefer, then click and drag the Gradient tool across the canvas. As you do this you’ll see a line extending from the starting point to the ending point showing you how your gradient will be applied. In order to demonstrate the characteristics of the different gradients that you can create, we have applied each gradient to an empty canvas, as shown in Figure A.
Figure A
Each style of gradient has it’s own unique effect when applied. Linear, radial, diamond, reflected, angle.
Making Your own Blends
Photoshop has a variety of preset gradients to chose from. Yet, when creating designs, these gradients aren’t always exactly what you need. You may have to modify the colors to create a new gradient. To do so, double-click on the Linear Gradient tool to display the Linear Gradient Options palette.
Then click the Edit button to display the Gradient Editor dialog box. In Photoshop 6, simply click on the Gradient preview window located in the Gradient tool option bar to open the Gradient Editor dialog box. The Gradient Editor dialog boxes differ slightly in appearance depending on what version of Photoshop you’re using, as shown in Figure B.
Figure B
You can create a new gradient by editing a pre-existing gradient.
Editing an Already Existing Gradient in Photoshop 5/5.5
To edit a pre-existing gradient, first choose the preset gradient that you want to change. Then click the Duplicate button, rename the gradient and click OK. To change the colors of the gradient, select the Color Adjust option button and click on the first color stop located underneath the gradient bar. Double-click on the color stop or click on the color swatch to choose a new color. Click OK to close the Color Picker dialog box. In our example we transformed the Orange, Yellow, Orange gradient to a subtle pink gradient, as shown in Figure C.
Figure C
You can change the color stops in the Gradient Editor dialog box to create a new gradient.
By clicking the Transparency Adjust option button, you can change the opacity of your colors. Don’t be alarmed when the gradient bar converts from color to black and white; it’s not affecting the colors, it’s just showing how the transparency mask is being applied. This option is great if you want sections of color to be transparent and others opaque.
Once you’ve modified the colors and transparency of the gradient, click OK or Save. If you choose to save your gradient, you can save it in the same folder as the preset gradients. This folder is located in Adobe Photoshop 5.5Adobe Photoshop 5.5 SettingsGradients.
Editing an Already Existing Gradient in Photoshop 6
First, choose the preset gradient that you want to modify. To change the colors of the gradient, click on the first color stop located underneath the gradient bar, then double-click on the color stop or click on the color swatch to choose a new color. You can adjust the gradient’s transparency by clicking on the color stops located directly above the gradient bar and then by adjusting the Opacity percentage located in the Stops option box.
Once you’ve changed the colors and transparency of the gradient, name it and click New. If you choose to save your gradient, you can save it in the same folder as the preset gradients. This folder is located in Adobe Photoshop 6.0PresetsGradients.
Adding and Adjusting Color Stops
In order to create additional color stops for the gradient, click directly underneath the gradient bar and a new stop will appear. To delete a color stop, just click on it and drag it off of the gradient bar. After placing or removing any additional color stops you can make adjustments as to how the colors blend together by sliding the small diamonds located in between each color stop back and forth.
Enhancing Line Art
Black-and-white line art can easily be modified with gradients. For example, we applied the pink gradient that we just created to make a calligraphic frame have the characteristics of ribbon, as shown in Figure D.
Figure D
Applying a gradient to otherwise dull line art can enhance the appearance of the graphic.
In order to transform a simple black-and-white graphic with a gradient, first choose a graphic to modify. To keep things simple, find an image that will be easy to select. Open the image in Photoshop and use the Magic Wand tool to select the areas that the gradient will be applied to. If the image is in bitmap mode you’ll have to convert it to grayscale with a size ratio of 1. To add color, convert the image again to RGB or CMYK. Once you’ve selected the areas that you want to adjust, choose a Gradient tool. Then select a preset gradient or create your own gradient. Now drag your pointer across the area that you want to fill and watch your image come to life.
Applying Gradients to Text in Photoshop 5/5.5
One of the easiest methods to enhance text in Photoshop is by applying a gradient fill to the letters. To do this, open a new document. Select the Type tool and click on the canvas. In the Type Tool dialog box, choose a font and set the color to black. Then input your text in the text box and click OK. You’ll notice that the text was automatically placed in a separate layer in the Layers palette. In the Layers palette click on the New Layer button. Make sure that the layer just created is highlighted and select a Gradient tool. Choose a preset gradient from the Gradient pop-up menu on the Gradient Options palette and click and drag the pointer across the canvas. By grouping the layers together in the Layers palette, the gradient will be applied to the text, as shown in Figure E. To do this, press cG ([Ctrl]G in Windows). The same results can be accomplished by choosing Layer > Group With Previous.
Figure E
By grouping your type and gradient layers together, the gradient fill will be placed directly into the type.
Applying Gradients to Text in Photoshop 6
To begin, select the Type tool and click on the canvas. Adjust your type preferences in the Type tool option bar and input your text directly on the canvas. When you’ve finished, click the New Layer button in the Layers palette. Select the Gradient tool and choose a fill and style of gradient to apply. Then click and drag the pointer across the canvas. In order to apply the gradient to the text, as shown in Figure F, press cG ([Ctrl]G in Windows) to group the layer containing the gradient with the previous layer containing the text.
Figure F
Applying a gradient fill to text in Photoshop 6 is very similar to doing so in versions 5 and 5.5.
Quick Adjustments
By separating gradient fills from text layers you’ll have the ability to adjust both components with ease. For example, if you want to change the gradient you applied, just select that layer and fill it with a new blend, or if you want to edit the text, select that layer and make any necessary adjustments.
The Final Blend
Gradients can be a quick fix to lackluster designs. They can enhance line art, text and more; the options are infinite. When designing, add a unique element to your compositions by creating new color combinations and taking advantage of each of the Gradient tool’s unique characteristics.
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This article was last modified on January 3, 2023
This article was first published on March 13, 2001
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