Photoshop Gradients

Gradients for Photoshop and Elements

Other gradient sets available and more gradients info

Thumbnail gallery of Mixed gradients (Set 1) - not all

Thumbnail gallery of the gradients from pack 1 - this is not all the gradients - this is only 1/10th of the gradients included in the 2,000 gradients set

Thumbnail gallery of 22,000 Mixed gradients (Set 2)

Many of the gradients in the 22,000 gradients set - not all.

Additional examples of gradients for Photoshop

examples of gradients from the bundle set

examples of gradients pack 1

examples of gradients pack 2

How do I install Photoshop gradients -- tutorial

They are installed either via Photoshop file menu and open command (this adds the gradients to the existing set) or by using the gradient palette and the load / replace command.

The Photoshop gradients are all GRD format files - this is the standard format and is used by Photoshop CS6 CS5 CS4 CS3 CS2 etc as well as Photoshop Elements.

How do I create a beautiful sky with a Photoshop gradient - tutorial ?

There are many different gradients that can be used to create morning, daytime, night time skies.

The only thing you have to add are the characters or the clouds and the buildings and even then gradients can be used to create unusual skyline columns in seconds to simulate a city skyline.

The gradients can be applied dark to light (top to bottom) of the design - so select a dark blue and perhaps a light blue or perhaps a dark blue gradient and a golden glow for sunrise etc - of course, different color gradients can be used to create alien skies.

How can I find more Photoshop gradients - on this site!?

There are six volumes of gradients on this site, there are others on the web. This site has over 32,000 stunning Photoshop gradients for use in commercial as well as personal use. You can use the gradients can be used to create backgrounds. They can be used to create logo designs. They can be used in packaging, videos, book designs, in templates, web site designs and much more. Updated: January 2nd 2012.

Use Photoshop gradients in layer effects?

They can be used in a number of the effects in the layer style dialog: gradient overlay being the most obvious but they can also be used in the stroke and glow effects dialog section. The stroke gradient use is further enhanced by the powerful shapeburst options that can be used to create stunning frame designs.

How do I access the Photoshop gradients?

Assuming you have loaded the gradients. You can access the gradients via the gradient tool as well as via the map filter as well as new fill layer gradient and the layer style dialog (stroke, overlay etc). Doesn't sound much but the gradients can be used as a key source of designs throughout the application.

How do I create surreal color effects using the gradients?

In 100s of ways but you can use the colors to achieve some truly odd color effects by using the map filter. You can also apply multiple software to an image and use the blending modes to create weird and wonderful effects.

How can I load more Photoshop gradients?

You can use the file open command to load more and more of the tools but there are limits, each version of Photoshop comes with its own limit to the number of resources it can load. If you have a selection of gradient GRD files and you want them all in one single GRD file, simply use the file open command to load the gradients. Go to the gradients palette and right side menu and save all the color designs to a single GRD file. I would recommend backing up the original GRD files though in case the new file becomes corrupted at some point

How can I use Photoshop gradients to create 3D effects / designs - tutorial?

They can be very good at creating 3D effects. Use the gradient tool with the radial option to create spherical shapes. The ones that work best are the gradients with transparency but you can always add this by applying to a spherical selection.

1) elliptical marquee tool

2) create circular selection

3) select gradient tool

4) select the gradient from the palette

5) set gradient type to radial

6) set start origin point to be 1/3 horizontal / 1/3 vertical of selection

7) Apply gradient to the edge of the selection (or beyond if you wish to experiment with spheres)

example shows a single sphere created using a Photoshop radial gradient (highlight blue)

You can also then (as it is still in a selection) copy the sphere and re-apply the sphere multiple times as new layer by pasting the sphere (edit menu and paste command) - the example below shows the gradient sphere copied and pasted. You could even create a similar design all on the same layer by creating a new selection and filling the selection with a gradient (though it is more likely that the gradients will not look the same as it is hard to judge perfectly the same exact length and origin of a gradient)

How can I change a gradient's color?

They are made up of color stops, by going to the gradient palette and clicking the gradient design a dialog will appear showing the gradient color stops as well as transparency stops. You can then double click the color stop to change the existing color. You can also click the gradient color bar (bottom part of the bar) to add a new color to the gradient, you can also select a stop and drag the stop off the bar to remove the color. The gradient can be made up of many color stops, or two stops which is the minimum allowed.

In the above example you will see three transparency stops (top row) - this is the dialog that appears if you click a gradient. The gradient is a modification of a default preset gradient. The bottom row shows three color stops. The end gradient transparency stops are 100% (solid) and the middle of the gradient is transparent with 0% setting. One end of the gradient is red, the middle black and the other end is green.

The actual result will depend on the various settings such as reverse (not set), background color (white) and the length of the gradient (bottom of the document) and the origin (center of the document) as well as blending mode (normal) and opacity (100%) as well as gradient type (radial).

A couple of minor changes will result in a totally different gradient result. The gradient also could be applied as a layer fill or layer effect. The center could be different, the blending mode 'difference' and so on - so you can see that it is possible, even with a single gradient, probably to create millions of unique and colorful designs.

Can I use gradients in grayscale / CMYK / RGB etc modes?

Yes, they can be used in all color modes except the indexed color mode. Just change the color mode via the image menu and then apply the design. You can also apply the effect to a particular color channel by going to the Photoshop channel palette and selecting that color alone and then apply the gradient

How can I use a gradient to create a pattern or brush?

They can be applied to a document in numerous ways. The best mode for a pattern is perhaps the reflected option but the key thing in creating a pattern is to avoid the edges / seams of the design. Transparency in a gradient is useful for creating a pattern as you can use this transparency to apply a gradient to selected parts of a design and then save the design as a pattern (define pattern command in the edit menu). Transparency in a design is also useful when creating brushes as you can apply the color to a selected area of an image, again avoiding the gradient reaching the edge of the image - then use the define brush command to create a new brush. Some of the brush sets as well as pattern sets have been created by using the same such methods.

Gradient overlays

Apply to an image using a opacity of less than 100%. Many of the gradients in the various collections also come with their own transparency information to allow for more or less of the image to be displayed. This transparency can be further modified by clicking on the gradient and changing the transparency stop settings. They can be applied in multiple directions using the gradient tool. The transparency information can be removed all together by setting the transparency check to off (along the gradient bar of Photoshop )

Combine multiple gradients over multiple layers

Combine gradients over multiple layers / applies using different blending modes such as 'multiply' 'difference'. You can combine the color effects in millions of different ways creating extreme color designs as well as subtle color effects depending on the blending modes applied. You can also achieve a similar effect by applying them to layers set with different blending modes.

Gradient types for the Photoshop gradients tutorial

Apply as radial / diamond / angle / reflected / linear.

Each type has its usefulness. The Photoshop help guide offers more explanation about the particular type and how the colors are mapped in each. My favorite always has to be radial. The diamond type is a very useful gradient for frames. Also by holding down the shift key you can apply the diamond type as a diamond or a square.

1) Linear

You can also apply the gradient at any angle as well as change the length and origin of the gradient (as well as the colors of the gradient)

2) Photoshop radial gradient

Again you can change the gradient itself (colors etc) as well as the length of the gradient and the origin - it doesn't need to be in the center

3) Photoshop angle gradient

Probably my least favourite as it has a strong line in the default gradient (if you have two stops).

If you set the two end stops to the same color then the result is smoother and not so bad

4) Photoshop Reflected gradient

A useful gradient as it just mirrors the stops - so if you have white and black, you will end up with a gradient (if you apply the gradient from one side to the other) going white to black and to white again. Great for columns

5) Diamond

Generates a diamond or square or a sparkle or star (combine a diamond and square)

Another couple more diamonds added and a wonderful star can be created (use to create millions of different hi-impact star designs or sparks)

1) set the gradient to diamond mode

2) apply gradient

3) set the blending mode for the gradient tool to lighten

4) Re-apply the gradient at a different angle

5) Re-apply at different angles to create star or spark effect

Selection masks and Photoshop gradients

Use as selection masks. Click the quick mask mode button and then apply the design to the document. On exit, the selection will reflect the design

Gradients and color channels tutorial

Use the gradients across color channels. To use the colors in different color channels, go to the channels palette and select one of the channels and then apply the colors; go to another channel and apply the same or perhaps a different design or apply the same design in a different manner or perhaps using a different apply mode; and repeat depending on the number of channels.

Scripts and Photoshop gradients tutorial

Use the gradients in scripts and actions.

By using the listener plugin (a plugin that comes with Photoshop but one that needs to be installed in the plug-in path - it is not installed by default) you can also observe the various settings associated with the gradient such as the type, angle, start and end position, the different stops used and the colors associated with the stop and the midpoints etc. The code requires some knowledge of scripts and does require a little re-working to make the various steps a little clearer.

The scripts can be used as a template for additional scripts. You can add random options to the gradient scripts by adding the math functions to the script. You can also add in loops and various conditions to the script. The gradients created can then be saved or used. To run the Photoshop gradients you must go the file and scripts menu.

Using a script allows for the effect to be repeated at a later time or the creation of gradients that might be nigh on impossible to create purely by adding stops to the gradient bar.

Actions do not allow for such flexibility but they do allow for the repeat of certain effects.

The pack 2 and pack 5 set from graphicxtras extensively used scripts to create the gradients and they include many weird and wonderful color and opacity settings such as alternating gradient stops with 100% or 50% opacity or changing the opacity by position or the inverse or perhaps in groupings of 5 gradient stops.

Text fills and Photoshop gradients tutorial

Use in text fills. Either create text as a layer and then apply the design via layer style command gradient overlay option

1) select text tool

2) select font etc

3) type text A B C etc

4) layer menu and layer style command and the gradient overlay option

set the gradient as required, set the gradient type, angle and scale. You can also select the gradient as it is applied to the text and shift the gradient origin.

Or apply text as a selection and then apply the gradient to the selection or perhaps the inverse of the selection

1) text tool - horizontal type mask tool

2) select font and size etc

3) apply text

4) select the gradient tool

5) select the Photoshop gradient

6) apply gradient, repeat, change gradient etc as required

You can then also de-select the text and apply effects such as a blur or artistic effects to the gradient filled text

Or create text and flatten and then apply using a blending mode such as multiply or difference

Displacement maps and Gradients

They can be used as displacement maps, save to PSD format. The same approach as with the patterns needs to be applied though it does require a little trial and error and not all gradients will work well. Especially, you have to remember the displacement map is a grayscale image and not a color one.

Photoshop Gradient string

The gradients can be combined using different blending modes. Does depend on the gradient but a useful blending mode for the gradients is the "lighter color". Initially though you need to add the color to the background or layer so apply the gradient using the normal blending mode then set the blending mode to the lighter color option and continue to apply equally spaced across the image (I have used the radial gradient option)

The next image shows the string of re-applied gradients across the image.

The gradient does make a difference, so does the mode and the position of the apply but many gradients can be used to create beautiful color scapes in seconds.

Added: December 26th 2011

Create laser blast using gradients in Photoshop CS6 CS5 etc

If you want to create a quick laser blast effect such as in a comic book character (Cyclops) then you can use the gradients to create a quick blast ray or light effect

The above face is a quick start point - clearly you can always quickly draw a face or use a face from a photo etc

Go to the gradient tool in the Photoshop toolbox

Select the angle gradient option and set the blending to normal

The next part is to define the gradient and you can create a wide blast beam or perhaps a narrow beam using the angle gradient. It all depends on the distance between the stops. Click on the gradient dropdown and the gradient editor will appear. I find it easier to manipulate the gradient by setting the gradient stops at the start of the gradient - you can define the gradient stops anywhere in the gradient editor but on exiting and using the gradient, it often becomes a trial and error to adding the laser beam. Anyway, create the gradient stops at the far left.

You can see from above that the opacity stops are opacity 0% and opacity 100% and opacity 0%, the red color is placed under the black (opacity 100%) - i.e show the laser red beam. The other stops are set to white and have an opacity of 0%. The beam is in the narrow band of the first 5%. Now apply the gradient from the eyes. Drag from the eye in the direction you want the laser blast. Repeat this with the other eye (if you want a combo beam). You can always change the color of the laser blast for each eye.

You can also create a wide beam effect with the gradients

You could also extend this to an actual gun blaster or perhaps a space craft

An unsuspecting user of Photoshop CS6 meets an untimely end - in this case using a laser blast gradient and a glow applied to a people custom shape design from shapes pack 34 (along with a dissolve)

Other interesting sites with Photoshop gradients

Creative fan

Vandelay design

Free gradients sampler/demo

Follow us on Twitter

Follow graphicxtras on google+

Follow graphicxtras on facebook

Date modified: May 10th, 2012

Creating plugins and presets since 1995. Privacy - no details sent to third parties. After buying the gradients pack, you receive the download link to the zip containing all the gradients. Unique items, commercial use gradients, royalty-free.

Video tutorial: Installation of gradients in Photoshop tutorial

Gradients are easy to install in Photoshop, access them via the file menu and open command or via the gradients palette in Photoshop

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTxH3KeBp0I