Defining Gradients

A gradient is a set of two or more colors that blend smoothly into one another, or into a different opacity. Gradients are defined and stored in the Resource Browser.

To create a gradient definition:

1. From the Resource Browser, select New Resource > Gradient from the Resources menu.

The Gradient Editor dialog box opens. Specify a name for the gradient resource, and select the segment starting and ending colors and their opacity settings. Gradients can consist of several segments and more than two colors. To create a gradient with more than two colors, click in the color spot area. This adds a color spot and midpoint to the gradient. Each color spot has an opacity value.

Specify the location of a selected color spot or midpoint by dragging it into position, or entering its position in the Position field.

 

Click to show/hide the parameters.

Parameter	Description
Name	Specifies a name for the gradient resource; this name is displayed in the Resource Browser and Attributes palette
Midpoint	Point between two colors where each color/opacity is of equal intensity; a midpoint is associated with the color spot to its left. By default, the midpoint is placed equidistant between two color spots, but it can be dragged to another location.
Gradient Preview	Displays the gradient in a preview bar
Color Spot	Specifies the starting or ending color and opacity of each gradient segment. To specify the color, double-click a color spot, or select a color spot and click Color. To add a new gradient segment, click in an empty location in the color spot area. A new color spot and midpoint are created. Drag a color spot to a new location in the color spot area; its associated color/opacity is retained. Remove a color spot and its associated midpoint by selecting the color spot and dragging it from the color spot area.
Color	Specifies the color of the selected color spot; click to select the color
Opacity	For the selected color spot, drag the slider to the left to decrease the opacity, or enter an opacity percentage (0–100) to the right of the slider. A gray checkerboard pattern is revealed in the Gradient Preview as the opacity decreases. To create an opacity gradient for a single color, specify the same color for all color spots and set the color spots to different opacities.
Position	Indicates the position (0.0–1.0) of the selected color spot or midpoint; the midpoint position is relative to its location between two adjacent color spots

2. Click OK to save the gradient resource with the specified name.

Gradients are saved in Vectorworks drawing files. If the file is not saved and the gradient is not default content, the gradient is lost when you exit the program.

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Applying Gradients

Editing Gradient Definitions

Mapping Gradient Fills

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