The gradient and paint tools.

The Gradient and Paint bucket tools

All the gradients offer the same options, and same dialog boxes, so the information here applies to all five gradient tools. The difference in the tools is in how the gradient shades are applied. The gradient tool is grouped with the paint bucket in the toolbar; if it is hidden, click on the paint bucket and choose it from the pop-up menu.

The linear gradient is applied by dragging over the entire length of the area you are applying it to. The other four gradients are applied to the radius of the area, since the gradient will expand outward in all directions from the start point..

The Linear gradient adds shades from where you first click to where you release the mouse button after dragging across the image.

The radial gradient, icon shown second from the left, above, applies shades in a circular pattern, radiating outward from the point where you first click. The line you drag is the radius of the circle of colors.

The colors applied by the angle gradient, icon shown center above, look like a cone, or Chinese hat, with the point at the top being the spot where you first click. Shades are applied in a counterclockwise spiral.

The reflected gradient, icon second from the right, looks like the linear gradient but with a mirror image gradient radiating in the opposite direction from the linear one where you have dragged with the pointer.

A diamond gradient looks like a starburst, or lens flare with distinct, shaded flare lines radiating from the point where you first click.

The gradient you have chosen, or created in the gradient edit dialog box [see second section below] is applied from the color shown on the left side of the gradient bar on the options palette, to the right. If you wish it applied in the other direction, check the Reverse box in the palette.

All gradients will cover the entire layer with their colors. The area you drag over will show the gradient variations and the rest will have the end color without gradient. If you want the gradient applied only to a particular area, select it first, and apply the gradient within the selection by dragging across it.

All gradients are applied with a transparency mask. You can turn it off by deselecting Transparency in the options palette, or edit it in the gradient editor [see second section below].

If you have problems with banding in your gradients (colors separating into stripes of different shades instead of making a smooth transition), try applying a small amount of noise with the Add Noise filter. Choose Filter > Noise > Add Noise.

The paint bucket is now grouped with the gradient tool in the toolbar (it used to be by itself). To find it, if it’s hidden, click on the gradient tool icon and choose the paint bucket from the pop-up menu.

The paint bucket will recolor pixels, of any color you click on, to be the current foreground color. The foreground color is selected by clicking on the foreground color square in the toolbox to access the Color Picker, by clicking on any color with the eyedropper tool, by clicking on the foreground color square in the Color palette, or by clicking on a swatch in the Swatches palette.

If you want to fill a limited area, make a selection before using the paint bucket tool. Only pixels within that selection will be recolored.

If you want to completely fill a selection or layer you may prefer using the Edit > Fill dialog which gives more options. You can also use shortcuts of Alt-Backspace to fill a selection with the foreground color, Alt-Shift-Backspace to fill only areas containing pixels (leaving transparent areas untouched), Ctrl-Backspace to fill with the background color, and Ctrl-Shift-Backspace to fill only areas containing pixels with the background color.

• Marquee tool
• Move tool
• Lasso tool
• Magic wand tool
• Crop tool
• Slice tool
• Airbrush tool
• Paintbrush and Pencil tools
• Stamp tool
• History Brush
• Eraser tool
• Gradient and bucket
• Blur, sharpen, smudge
• Dodge, burn, sponge
• Path tool
• Text tool
• Pen and anchor
• Shape and line
• Notes tool
• Eyedropper, measure
• Hand tool
• Zoom tool
• Color Picker
• Mode tools

Photoshop Tutorials

	Creating spooky text - 6+7
	Creating 3d Text - 6.0
	Creating Engraved text - 6.0
	Working with colormasks - 6.0
	Using the quick mask tool - 6.0
	Creating perfect rounded edges - 6.0
	Slicing a graphical interface - 6.0
	Creating torn and burnt images - 6.0
	Creating realistic wires - 6.0