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Gradients - The Basics
The Gradient Tool can help you create beautiful and colorful papers and embellishments for your digital scrapbook layouts. I will start with the basics of the tool in this part, and then in Parts 2 and 3 show how to use them with the ScrapSimple Paper Templates and with brushes.
I will be using PSCS in this tutorial. The Gradient Tool works the same in PSE, however.
Basics of the Gradient Tool
In Photoshop CS, the Gradient Tool can be found in the fly-out menu under the Paint Bucket Tool. In Photoshop Elements (PSE), the Gradient Tool is below the Paint Bucket on the Tool Bar.
Figure 1
Figure 2
When you click on the Gradient Tool, a toolbar opens across the top that has a lot of the same options you're used to seeing with the other tools, such as Opacity and Mode. The Gradient Editor is the colored bar (Figure 1). Click on the colored gradient itself (not the down arrow at the end of it), and the Gradient Editor will open (Figure 2).
Figure 3
Underneath the Gradient Editor, little boxes are hanging. When you click on these boxes, the Color Picker option becomes live at the bottom of that window (Figure 3).
Figure 4
You can then use the Color Picker to pick out colors from your photos, or select colors from a particular color scheme (Figure 4).
You can slide the hanging boxes back and forth, to increase the amount of each color that will be used in the gradient.
To add a new color, simply click below the gradient bar, and a new hanging box will appear. You can also delete colors by clicking the Delete button when that color's Color Picker is active.
Once you have your gradient set up the way you like, and if you want to save it to be used again, you can name it, in the Name box above the Gradient Editor, and then click on "New." This will add it to your Presets display. To save it, go to your Preset Manager, and go to Gradients by clicking the little arrow next to the Presets Type box. Click on and Delete the old gradients that appear. Click on the gradient you created, click on "Save Set" and give it an appropriate name. This will save that gradient, or set of gradients as a Preset, so you'll be able to use it again and again.
Using a Gradient
Figure 5
Open a new 12x12 inch, 300 ppi file in PS. Make sure your Gradient Tool is selected, and click and drag with your mouse across the file (Figure 5). You can drag the mouse diagonally, vertically, horizontally, any way you would like. Experiment and see what happens.
Figure 6
In addition, there are some preset styles of gradients, as you can see in the red circle above (Figure 6). Again, play around with those, dragging your mouse across the file, starting and stopping in different places on your file to see the different effects these styles create.
Things to try:
Create two layers with two different gradients in coordinating colors. Use your Eraser Tool and a cool brush, either a shape or a grunge brush, to erase some of the top layer to reveal the gradients below.
Above are two examples I made by layering two different gradients. I used the same colors, blue to green, but the lower layer is darker hues of those colors and the top layer is lighter.
I used a grunge brush to erase the top layer on the top paper, and a decorative circle brush to erase the top layer on the bottom paper.
Play around with gradients, and see what you come up with. And stay tuned for Gradients – Part 2, where I'll show you how to use Gradients with the ScrapSimple Paper Templates.
Layout by Jan Hicks
Tutorial by Jan Hicks
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