Working with Gradients in Photoshop

A gradient is a wonderful blend of colors that you can apply to a layer or selection, gradually fading from one hue to another. Gradients can involve more than two colors, producing a veritable rainbow of variations. You can apply gradients by using preset selections of colors, or you can create your own gradient.
You can create the following gradient effects:

- Foreground to background: The gradient is a transition from the current foreground color to the background color.
- Foreground to transparent: The gradient is a transition from the current foreground color to transparent, allowing whatever is under the transparent portion to show through.
- Black to white: The gradient is a transition from black to white.
- An array of colorful selections: This includes rainbows, coppery sheens, and other effects.
You can load other libraries of gradients from the Gradient palette menu’s libraries. They have names such as Color Harmonies, Metals, and Special Effects.

In addition to being able to control the appearance and application of a gradient, you also have the opportunity to adjust the Gradient tool’s options, all of which are found on the Options bar:
- Mode: Select any of Photoshop’s blending modes.
- Opacity: Choose how transparent the gradient is.
- Reverse: Reverse the order in which the colors are applied.
- Dither: Add noise, or random information, to produce a smoother gradient that prints with less banding (color stripes caused by the limitations of the printing process to reproduce a full range of colors).
- Transparency: This option determines whether Photoshop ignores the gradient’s transparency settings when you apply a gradient. If you deselect this option, all portions of the gradient will be fully opaque. I show you how to add transparency to a gradient later in this chapter.

Choosing a method for applying a gradient

Five different kinds of gradient methods are available in Photoshop, as shown in the following figure:
- Linear gradient blends the colors of the gradient from start color to end color in a straight line.
- Radial gradient blends the colors from start to end in a circular arrangement.
- Angle gradient creates a counterclockwise sweep around the starting point, resembling a radar screen.
- Reflected gradient blends the colors by using symmetrical linear gradients on either side of the starting point.
- Diamond gradient blends the colors outward in a diamond pattern.