How to Create and Edit Gradients in Adobe Illustrator
Posted on 16th June 2023
Creating a New Gradient
To create a new gradient, simply select the “Gradient” tool from the toolbar. Then, click and drag on your canvas to create a gradient. By default, the gradient will be linear, but you can change the type of gradient by clicking on the “Type” drop-down menu in the “Gradient” panel.
Editing an Existing Gradient
To edit an existing gradient, simply select the object with the gradient you want to edit. Then, open the “Gradient” panel (Window > Gradient). You can then change the type, colors, and other settings of the gradient.
Adding Colors to a Gradient
To add colors to a gradient, simply select the “Gradient” tool from the toolbar. Then, click on the “Stop” color in the “Gradient” panel. Next, click on the “Color” drop-down menu and select the color you want to add. Finally, click on the “Location” field and enter the location where you want the color to appear in the gradient (0% – 100%).
Removing Colors from a Gradient
To remove colors from a gradient, simply select the “Gradient” tool from the toolbar. Then, click on the “Stop” color in the “Gradient” panel. Next, click on the “Remove” button. Alternatively, you can simply select the “Stop” color and press the “Delete” key on your keyboard.
Changing the Direction of a Gradient
To change the direction of a gradient, simply select the “Gradient” tool from the toolbar. Then, click and drag on the canvas to create a gradient. By default, the gradient will be linear, but you can change the type of gradient by clicking on the “Type” drop-down menu in the “Gradient” panel. Alternatively, you can click on the “Reverse” button to reverse the direction of the gradient.
Changing the Opacity of a Gradient
To change the opacity of a gradient, simply select the object with the gradient you want to edit. Then, open the “Gradient” panel (Window > Gradient). Next, click on the “Stop” color in the “Gradient” panel. Finally, change the “Opacity” setting to the desired value.
In the previous section, we looked at how to create a gradient using the Gradient tool. In this section, we’ll look at how to edit gradients in Adobe Illustrator.
There are two ways to edit gradients in Adobe Illustrator: using the Gradient panel, or using the Gradient tool.
Using the Gradient Panel
To edit a gradient using the Gradient panel, first select the object with the gradient you want to edit. Then, open the Gradient panel (Window > Gradient).
In the Gradient panel, you’ll see a thumbnail of the selected gradient. Below the thumbnail, you’ll see two options: Type and Mode.
Type
The Type option determines the type of gradient you want to create. There are four gradient types:
Linear: Creates a gradient that goes from one color to another in a straight line.
Radial: Creates a gradient that goes from one color to another in a circular or elliptical shape.
Angle: Creates a gradient that goes from one color to another in an angle.
Diamond: Creates a gradient that goes from one color to another in a diamond shape.
Mode
The Mode option determines how the colors in the gradient will blend together. There are four modes:
Normal: Creates a gradient with the default blending mode.
Multiply: Darkens the colors in the gradient.
Screen: Lighters the colors in the gradient.
Overlay: Overlays the colors in the gradient.
To edit the colors in the gradient, click on the color stops (the small circles) below the thumbnail. A color picker will appear, allowing you to select a new color.
To add a new color stop, click on the “Add” button below the thumbnail. A new color stop will be added to the gradient.
To delete a color stop, click on the “Delete” button below the thumbnail. The selected color stop will be deleted from the gradient.
To change the location of a color stop, click and drag it to the desired location.
To reverse the direction of the gradient, click on the “Reverse” button below the thumbnail.
Using the Gradient Tool
To edit a gradient using the Gradient tool, first select the object with the gradient you want to edit. Then, select the Gradient tool from the Tools panel.
Click on the object to open the Gradient tool options in the Tools panel.
In the Gradient tool options, you’ll see the same Type and Mode options as in the Gradient panel. You can use these options to change the type or mode of the gradient.
To edit the colors in the gradient, click on the color stops (the small circles) below the thumbnail. A color picker will appear, allowing you to select a new color.
To add a new color stop, click on the “Add” button below the thumbnail. A new color stop will be added to the gradient.
To delete a color stop, click on the “Delete” button below the thumbnail. The selected color stop will be deleted from the gradient.
To change the location of a color stop, click and drag it to the desired location.
To reverse the direction of the gradient, click on the “Reverse” button below the thumbnail.
Conclusion
In this article, we looked at how to create and edit gradients in Adobe Illustrator. We looked at how to use the Gradient tool and the Gradient panel to edit gradients.
There are a few different ways to edit gradients in Adobe Illustrator. One way is to use the Gradient Tool, which can be found in the Tools panel. With the Gradient Tool selected, click and drag on the object to create a gradient. To change the direction of the gradient, click and drag on the endpoint of the gradient line. To change the angle of the gradient, click and drag on the midpoint of the gradient line.
To change the colors of the gradient, double-click on the gradient stop in the Gradient panel. This will open the Color Picker, where you can select a new color. To add a new color to the gradient, click on the “New Color” button in the Gradient panel. This will create a new color stop in the gradient. To delete a color stop, click on the “X” next to the color stop in the Gradient panel.
To change the opacity of the gradient, click and drag the opacity slider in the Gradient panel. To change the type of gradient, click on the “Type” drop-down menu in the Gradient panel and select a new gradient type. To save a gradient, click on the “New Gradient” button in the Gradient panel. This will open the “New Gradient” dialog box, where you can name the gradient and click “OK” to save it.
