Gradient Tool
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PSDTUTS Photoshop Wiki / Photoshop Tools / Gradient Tool
The Gradient Tool is similar to the Paint Bucket Tool in that it’s designed to cover large areas of canvas, but instead of painting with a solid color, it creates a smooth gradient consisting of two or more colors.
[edit] Gradient Tool Options
The Gradient Tool’s Tool Preset palette is identical to the Brush Tool’s.
The colorful button showing an example of the currently selected gradient leads to the Gradient Editor when it is clicked on. The Gradient Editor allows you to select gradient presets or customize your gradient. You can modify colors by clicking on the colored squares with arrows attached that are underneath the gradient preview, or create new colors by clicking in between the squares.
You can change opacity by clicking on the squares on the top of the preview, or create new opacity controls by clicking in between them. If you wish to save your gradient as a preset, click Save on the right-hand side of the window.
Gradient Type determines whether your gradient is determined by the colors you select (Solid), or by random selections from a selected color range using Noise. The Solid setting is the one used for most gradients.
The arrow next to the Gradient Editor button opens the Gradient Picker palette. This palette shows the gradients in the currently open set, and the small arrow on the top right corner opens a menu where other sets can be opened, loaded, created and saved.
The four buttons next to the Gradient Picker determine the shape of the gradient. You can select Linear, Radial, Angle, Reflected or Diamond shapes.
The Mode dropdown menu provides a selection of blending modes. These are the same as the standard layer blending modes except for Behind, which ensures the brush only affects transparent pixels on a layer.
The Opacity slider controls how transparent or opaque the gradient will be, with 0% being totally transparent and 100% being totally opaque.
When the Reverse checkbox is ticked, Photoshop reverses the direction of the colors in your gradient, or inverts them in the case of a radial gradient..
When the Dither checkbox is ticked, Photoshop dithers the gradient to reduce the “banding” effect and make a smoother transition between the colors.
The Transparency checkbox, when ticked, enables the transparency mask set in the Gradient Editor (the opacity controls that are set via the squares on top of the preview bar). When this box is unchecked the opacity is constant and set by the Opacity slider.
[edit] Usage
The Gradient Tool keyboard shortcut is G. Once you’ve fine-tuned your gradient options, click and drag on the canvas to draw the span of the gradient. If you want a smooth gradient covering the canvas, start from one corner or side of the canvas and go to the far end. Starting in the middle will paint a big block of one color behind your starting point.
You can draw a perfectly straight line for your gradient path by holding Shift as you click and drag. xd
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