Gradient Editor

Although Photopaint already contains several default gradients, which are explained in Gradient Fill, it is useful to be able to create new gradients - or edit existing ones -to your own design. This can be done through the Gradient Editor.

You can access the Gradient Editor in the Tools menu. (Alternatively, click on the Edit button at the bottom of the "Gradient Fill" box after selecting Gradient Fill on the Tools bar.)

Once in the "Gradient Editor" dialog you can set the following:

When you first create a new gradient, it will have no distinguishing properties (all new gradients are shown as a solid line of color in the Gradient Bar). To begin creating the gradient proper, first make sure it is selected in the list of gradient names.

image\ppGradientEditorNew.gif

In the body of the Gradient Editor you need to select colors and transparency values for the gradient, as follows:

There are two Adjust checkboxes:

  1. First select Color (it should be selected by default anyway).

The long box just below the Adjust commands is called the Gradient Bar. This represents the gradient itself, namely how its color content is spread out when you create the gradient on screen. By default it will be a solid block of color until you design the gradient.

Just below the Gradient Bar there are two Color Markers, one at either end of the Gradient Bar. Just above and half way along the bar, there is a Color Midpoint Marker.

The Color Markers determine which colors the gradient will start and finish with; the Color Midpoint Marker marks the point where the two colors are equally blended.

Select a color for the left-hand side of the Gradient Bar by clicking on the left-hand Color Marker. The little triangle on top of the marker will become black to show that it has been selected.

Next, click on the Color box just below. The Select Color dialog is opened. Select a color for the marker (you can read about selecting colors in Color selection). Both the Color box and the left-hand marker are changed to the selected color. Set the color for the right-hand of the gradient in the same way.

Note that the gradient runs through from the first color to the second with the Color Midpoint Marker showing where the two colors are equally blended. Initially this is half way along - select the marker and the Location box will read 50%. You can alter the location of the Color Midpoint Marker by dragging it either left or right. The point of equal blending between the two colors will be situated at the new location, which will be reflected in the Location box. Note that the Location box shows the position of the currently selected marker (the Color Markers are at 0 and 100% respectively).

You are not restricted to just two Color Markers. To add another, click just below the Gradient Bar. A new marker is displayed. You can add several markers in the same way. If you would like to remove a marker just drag it away from the Gradient Bar and it will disappear.

image\ppGradientEditorNew_1.gif

There are two important points you should note:

Once you have added a Color Marker you can proceed to create gradient sections between Color Markers, leaving the rest of the gradient unaffected. Moreover, you can drag any Color Marker, except the end markers, to a new position and thereby expand or contract particular sections of the gradient. Likewise, by dragging the Midpoint Markers you can alter the point of equal blending in any particular section.

Note that when you click on a Color Marker its location is always displayed as a percentage of the whole Gradient Bar in the Location Box. However, with the Midpoint Markers the location is displayed as a percentage of the section between two Color Markers. If you have previously dragged a Midpoint Marker so that it is, say, 80% of the distance between the adjacent Color Markers, then it will retain this percentage distance no matter how many markers are added, until you choose to drag it to a new location.

The gradient is also displayed in the Preview Bar at the bottom of the box.

  1. Initially the opacity of the gradient is 100%. To alter this, click on Transparency. Note that the Color box changes to the Opacity box and the Gradient Bar becomes solid black. Opacity and transparency are set in a similar way to color, using the same tools.

As with color, you can add Markers (below the Gradient Bar) and therefore Midpoints (above the box). Between any two markers there is one midpoint which indicates the half way point between the opacity of the two markers.

image\ppGradientEditorTransparency.gif

Set the opacity for a marker by clicking on it and typing a percentage value in the Opacity box. 0% is totally transparent, 100% is totally opaque.

You can set a transparency for the section between any two markers in the following way: Drag the midpoint to relocate the half way point between the markers. A marker of, say, 30% and one of, say, 70% will have a midpoint value of 50%. You can drag any marker, except the end markers, to a new position and thereby expand or contract particular sections of the gradient. The Location box works in the same way as for color, with midpoints being measured between adjacent markers and markers being measured along the Gradient bar as a whole.

The gradient, with both its color and transparency values, is displayed in the Preview box.

Once you are satisfied with your settings, click on OK to save the gradient and close the Gradient Editor.

Apply the gradient by selecting Gradient Fill from the Tools bar. The new gradient will appear among the old gradients in the Gradient drop-down box in the "Gradient Fill" dialog. Apply the gradient by dragging the Gradient Pointer across the image window, as explained in Gradient Fill.

See:

The Tools menu