Try It: Linear Gradient
Demo videos for desktop computers and an iPad are at the bottom of this lesson.
Click here to download a printable PDF of this lesson: Try It: Linear Gradients
Part One. Set up the Gradients Editor.
- Click the “Gradients” button to activate the Gradients Editor.
- Click “Select All Warp”. In this exercise, you’ll be placing the linear gradient across the entire warp.
- The Gradients popup will now appear.
Part Two. Create your basic gradient.
- Select your first gradient color by clicking in one of the colored boxes at the top of the Color Editor.
- Select your second gradient color by clicking in a different colored box.
- Select the gradient type “Linear”.
- A linear gradient will now appear in the preview box.
Part Three. Play with your gradient.
- Slide the Scale slider back and forth to see how it changes the rate at which the colors transition.
- Slide the Threading Unit control around to see how changing the width of the stripes changes the appearance of the gradient.
- Click “Reversed” to see how it inverts the gradient. (Make friends with this checkbox – it will be handy when creating multicolor gradients later!)
- Click “Show Opposite Side” to check out the back side of the gradient.
- Change the colors around by clicking the color selector boxes at the top of the screen to put new colors into your gradient.
- Finally, click “Save Colors” to save the colors and transfer the gradient to the main Color Editor, where you can edit it however you like.
Part Four: Continue Playing!
- Now you’re familiar with the very basic functionality of the Linear Gradient. Play around with creating different types of linear gradients: put them in the weft, put them in the warp as well as the weft, and see what happens!
Note that the Color Editor is browser-based software: It works in your browser. There is nothing to download. It’s right below this sentence, in the box below the three red arrows – just start clicking. (That’s a live program, not a screenshot.)
