Transforming gradients

Once you have applied a gradient to an object's fill or stroke, there are three ways to adjust or transform that gradient: the Fill Transform menu, the Fill Transform tool, or the Gradient Transform tool. Each works slightly differently and offers slightly different ways to accomplish effects. Note that if the selected object has both a gradient fill and a gradient stroke, both gradients will be affected.

Fill Transform menu

When you have a selected object with a gradient fill or stroke, the Fill Transform menu appears in the lower-right corner of the Color Picker. If you click it, Expression Design displays the Fill Transform window, which lets you control the position, scale, and rotation of the gradient. Remember that you can drag these values to change them, or click them to enter a value numerically.

Clicking the Fill Transform button displays additional controls

To return the gradient back to its original state, click the Reset button at the bottom of the Fill Transform window.

Note that the Fill Transform window appears slightly differently depending on whether you are adjusting a linear or radial gradient.

Fill Transform tool

You can use the Fill Transform tool to move, scale, rotate, and skew the gradient fill of a shape or path independently of the shape or path itself.

Select the path or shape. (You can also select more than one object to affect them all at the same time.)
Choose the Fill Transform tool from the Toolbox . The resize handles that appear around the object now refer to the fill rather than the object itself.
To shift the gradient, drag it. To scale, rotate, or skew the gradient, drag the resize handles as you would to transform an object.

Gradient Transform tool

You can control a gradient's starting and ending points, as well as its angle, with the Gradient Transform tool. A gradient has two axes: the main axis (along which the color varies) and the second axis (which affects how the gradient is skewed). For linear gradients, the two axes are always exactly perpendicular; that is, the color blends along the first axis and at a 90-degree angle from the second color. However, for radial gradients, the angle and length of the second axis controls whether the blend appears round or elliptical.

To set the direction of a gradient, select the object that has a gradient and click the Gradient Transform tool from the Toolbox. Then:

To set the main gradient axis: Position the pointer where you want the gradient's starting point to be and drag in the angle you want the gradient to travel. Release the mouse button where you want the gradient's ending point. For a gradual blend, set the starting and ending points further apart; for a sharp blend, set them closer together. (In a radial gradient, the direction doesn't matter; just the location of the start and end points.)
To set the second gradient axis: hold down the ALT key while dragging. The start point of the gradient will not change. In a linear blend, only the angle of the second gradient matters (the distance you drag is ignored). In a radial gradient, the two axes define the ellipse that contains the gradient, so both the angle and the distance matters. If you hold down the SHIFT key while dragging, the angle is constrained to a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal angle.