Gradient Editing

This tutorial will provide you with the fundamental steps on how to edit a PSP 8 gradient and introduce you to the practical use of Gradients in creating Vector objects. Step 1 - Open the Material Options Palette

Click on the Foreground color chip in the Materials palette to access the Material options palette. Click the Gradient tab to access the Gradient options. Materials Palette Material Options

Step 2 - Click the Edit button to access the Gradient Editor

This is where you will create a new gradient or edit an existing one. Notice that there is a list of the current gradient types, the one I have showing is Black-white. To edit an existing gradient - Choose the gradient from the Types list that you wish to edit. The gradient will appear in the Gradient bar with it's preset color locations and mid point. The midpoint is the little diamond shape above the Gradient bar and above the Transparency bar. The "Gradient" portion of the Gradient Editor is where the colors of the gradient are determined. Notice that the "Fore:" (Foreground) and "Back:" (Background) are shown first. Those will be whatever colors you happen to have sitting in your Foreground and Background chips in the Materials palette. The "Custom" will choose any color in the picker. Simply click the larger color chip to access the Colors dialog and choose a color. You will notice that only the Color dialog pops up, currently you cannot choose a Pattern or a Gradient for gradient editing. The "Transparency" portion of the Gradient Editor controls how transparent a given portion of the gradient will appear. When the color is at full opacity the color crayon symbols (markers) are white. If you click on one then drag the opacity down the color will graduate from white to black, the shades of gray representing the amounts of opacity. Notice that there is a midpoint above the Transparency bar as well.

Step 3 - Edit the Gradient

Start off with the Black-white gradient. Click the black marker, (the one that looks like a crayon), to make it the active color. Click the large Custom color chip to bring up the Color dialog. Choose any color, in this case I chose red. You now have a red and white gradient to work with. Here is a sample as applied in a radial to make a simple colored vector shape ball. You can also edit the transparency of part or all of the gradient. Notice in the example below that the first gradient color has been brought down to 70% transparency and the second gradient color has been brought down to 100% transparency. The sample here shows the result of the color and transparency changes made. This is the outcome of the changes made to the gradient on the same vector circle shown above. I have left a stroke on the circle to illustrate the actual size of the circle compared to the color of the gradient applied.

Step 3 - Add color to a gradient.

Adding color to an existing gradient can change the outcome drastically. An extreme example shown here where color was added at very close increments. To add color to a gradient simply click anywhere along the bottom of the gradient bar, a new color marker will appear, in this case I clicked one next to the other. You can move the color by dragging it over with the mouse or typing in the value in the Location box. In this case I typed them in to get them spaced the way I wanted them. As you can see I got impatient toward the end because with each color chip I also had to choose a color and that particular beta build was giving me grief with the color picker. Notice I made no changes in the Transparency dialog. This is an example of the gradient seen above. It is set to radial with 43 repeats creating a sort of noise effect. This is also a vector shape. The possibilities are only limited to your imagination. To save your edited gradient click the Copy button, this will open a dialog box which will allow you to save the edited gradient with a new name.

Step 4 - Create a new gradient.

When working with vector shapes or specific lighting effects I use many custom gradients. Rather than editing a gradient for each use I create new ones to use when I need them. To create a new gradient click the New button in the Gradient Editor. The New Gradient dialog will pop up with an input box for you to name your new gradient. It helps to know what you will use the gradient for so you can name it accordingly, however, you can always rename the gradient later. Type in a name for the gradient and click OK. The new gradient will take on the color of whatever color is in the Custom color box. In this case I wanted a slightly opaque white for use in highlighting. I kept both of the colors white and reduced the Transparency to 70% for both sides. Amazingly the gradient name is White 70%. Now I can use this less opaque color as a fill for a shape or as a highlight. The new gradient is automatically saved and added to the gradients list. You can export the new gradient to another folder for sharing or for back-up purposes by clicking on the Export button. Clicking on the Import button will import a gradient that you may have saved to another folder. Clicking on the Rename button will allow you to rename an existing custom gradient. You might be wondering what the big deal is about editing or making custom gradients. The answer for me, large and small, is creating realistic vector shapes and vector shapes that appear three-dimensional. Click here for a sample of practical application of using edited custom gradients in creating vector shapes.

 

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