{"id":6939,"date":"2015-10-14T14:29:38","date_gmt":"2015-10-14T18:29:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.photoshopessentials.com\/?p=6939"},"modified":"2023-07-26T14:43:59","modified_gmt":"2023-07-26T18:43:59","slug":"how-to-draw-gradients-with-the-gradient-tool-in-photoshop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.photoshopessentials.com\/newsite\/basics\/how-to-draw-gradients-with-the-gradient-tool-in-photoshop\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Draw Gradients With The Gradient Tool In Photoshop"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Download PDF: How To Draw Gradients With The Gradient Tool<\/a><\/p>\n

Version Note:<\/strong> Using Photoshop 2023? Check out my new Live Gradients tutorial<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Written by Steve Patterson.<\/div>\n

In this tutorial, we'll learn how to draw gradients in Photoshop<\/strong>! There are many places within Photoshop where gradients are used. The Gradient Tool, for example, lets us draw gradients across layers or selections, or across layer masks to create smooth transitions from one layer to another. <\/p>\n

We can fill text and shapes with gradients. We can colorize a photo using a Gradient Map image adjustment, or add color effects with a Gradient Overlay layer style, and more! Gradients are invaluable in Photoshop, and they're a great way to add more interest and life to what would have been a flat-looking image or design.<\/p>\n

In this tutorial, we'll cover the basics of how to draw gradients using the simplest (and possibly the most useful) of Photoshop's gradient-related features, the Gradient Tool<\/strong>. We'll look at other ways of applying gradients in other tutorials, but you'll find that they all work essentially the same way, so once you've learned the basics with the Gradient Tool, you'll be able to take advantage of all the other gradient features that Photoshop has to offer!<\/p>\n

Along with learning how to draw gradients, we'll also look at how to select from Photoshop's many preset gradients using the Gradient Picker<\/strong>, including how to load additional gradient sets that are included with Photoshop. We'll look at different gradient styles<\/strong> that we can draw, and we'll look at a few of the more commonly-used gradients, including what may be the most useful one of all, the default Foreground to Background <\/strong>gradient!<\/p>\n

Once we've learn the basics of how to draw gradients, in the next tutorial, we'll learn how to edit and save our own custom gradients using Photoshop's Gradient Editor<\/a>. <\/p>\n

I'll be using Photoshop CC<\/a> here but this tutorial is also fully compatible with Photoshop CS6.<\/p>\n