Adobe have made another small change to the Gradient Tool that I really like.
When using the new Gradient Tool, and with the Radial Gradient selected, you’ll notice that there is another little white circular dot icon on the edge of the circle of the on-screen control (see Figure 1).
Figure 1 - Re-shaping the Radial Gradient
Clicking and dragging this dot icon allows you to “squash” the radial gradient from a circle into an ellipse of any width, dragging in the opposite direction will take the gradient back into a circular shape. Figure 2 shows a radial gradient that has been re-shaped into an ellipse.
Figure 2 - A re-shaped Radial Gradient
Click and drag the outer edge (line) of the circle to rotate or resize the gradient.
Click and drag the centre icon to reposition the gradient.
I find this little change very useful when using the radial gradient for various lighting effects, I hope you do too.
This article was first published in the December 2023 issue of Artists Down Under magazine.