Gradient Blending with Layer Masks

By definition, a gradient is a continuous transition of colors. Gradients in Photoshop can contain a transition that blends from black to white, blends from one color to another, or contains an entire series of colors. Gradients can also blend from opaque colors to transparent, a technique that is commonly used when using layer masks to blend images. Before you begin learning how to apply gradients in layer masks, let’s first take a close look at Photoshop’s Gradient tool, the available gradient presets, and the Gradient Editor.

The Gradient Tool
The Gradient tool allows you to apply a chosen gradient by clicking and dragging in any direction. You can access the tool by clicking the Gradient tool icon in the Tools palette or by pressing G on your keyboard.

To use the Gradient tool, select a layer or layer mask in the Layers palette, choose a preset gradient from the Gradient Picker in the Options palette, and click and drag in any direction. Your initial click point determines where the first color of the gradient begins, and the point where you release the mouse button determines where the last color of the gradient ends. To help you visualize the transition, Photoshop displays a crosshair icon at either end of the line drawn with the tool. The gradient appears in the image immediately after you release the mouse button.

Constrain the Gradient Angle
Holding down Shift as you click and drag with the Gradient tool allows you to constrain the applied gradient to 45° angles.

The Gradient tool also has its own set of options in the Options palette. You’ll find a gradient preset menu, a Mode menu, an opacity setting, and several buttons for choosing a type of gradient to apply. Each gradient type is represented in the Options palette by a descriptive icon, including (from left to right) Linear, Radial, Angle, Reflected, and Diamond.

The Options palette also allows you to apply a specific blend mode to gradients applied with the gradient tool. To use this option, you must choose the blend mode from the Options palette Mode menu before clicking and dragging with the tool. The blend mode options available in the Options palette menu are the same ones you’ll find in the Layers palette blend mode menu. Next to the blend mode list is an Opacity field, where you can enter an opacity value. You must enter this value before you apply the gradient with the tool.

Enabling the Reverse option switches the order of colors in the gradient. Enabling the Dither option creates a smoother blend between colors and prevents any banding (noticeable lines that appear in the gradient blend) from occurring. Enabling the Transparency option tells Photoshop to apply the gradient’s transparency mask should the chosen gradient contain transparency. As a general rule, you should keep the Dither and Transparency options selected at all times.

Gradient Presets
To access the available gradient presets, click the down arrow next to the currently selected gradient thumbnail in the Options palette. Doing so reveals the Gradient Picker. By default, the Gradient Picker displays the default set of gradients in a list of small thumbnails. With tool tips enabled, hovering over each thumbnail in the menu reveals the gradient preset name. You can resize the picker by clicking the bottom-right corner of the window and dragging out.

Renaming a Gradient
If you’ve made some adjustments to a gradient, it makes sense to rename it to something more descriptive that reflects those changes. You can rename a selected gradient by Control+clicking (Mac) or rightclicking with a two-button mouse and choosing Rename Gradient from the pop-up menu. Enter a new name in the Gradient Name dialog box that appears and click OK.

To change the way the gradient presets are displayed, click the menu button to reveal the flyout window. Here you can choose to display the gradient presets as small or large thumbnails, in small or large list view, or as text only.

The bottom portion of the flyout menu contains a list of available gradient sets (also referred to as libraries). From this list you can choose which set of gradients to display in the menu window. The sets are categorized by appearance, such as the Pastels set, which contains gradients using only pastel colors, or the Metals set, which contains gradients that emulate the color of reflected metal surfaces. Every time a new set is chosen, Photoshop gives you the option to replace the currently visible set in the menu list,  or append it. Choose Append if you’d like to add the newly chosen gradients to the currently visible set in the Gradient Picker.

You can delete a selected gradient by Control+clicking (Mac) or right-clicking with a twobutton mouse and choosing Delete Gradient from the pop-up menu. Photoshop removes it from the list immediately. Choosing Reset Gradients from the flyout menu can restore deleted gradients. When resetting, you have the option to save any changes made to the gradient settings. To do so, click Save in the warning dialog box that appears. Photoshop then displays the Save dialog box, where you can name the new set. The default file location on your system for custom presets is in the Applications\Adobe Photoshop CS3\Presets\Gradients (Mac) or Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop CS3\Presets\Gradients folder (Win). If you choose not to save, all changes made to the gradient presets, including any added new presets, will be lost.

Navigating the Presets
Press Shift+comma to select the first preset in the category list. Press Shift+period to select the last preset in the list. To scroll forward through the list, press the period key. To scroll backward, press the comma key.