Unleash the power of gradients
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
Table of Contents
Excerpted from “Adobe Illustrator CS Idea Kit” by Barbara Mulligan and Jerome Holder.
Adding depth to your artwork is easy with gradient libraries in Adobe® Illustrator® and their rich variety of swatches. But you can tap the true power of gradients by knowing how to create new ones and how to modify existing gradients for your particular needs. In this project you will draw a button switch, switch plate, and an indicator light, and bring them to life with gradient fills.
1. Get started.
Choose File > New. In the New Document dialog box, set Units to Inches and select CMYK for Color Mode and click OK. If the Gradient palette is not open, double-click the Gradient button in the toolbox to display the Gradient palette. If the palette options are not displayed, click the upper-right arrow button and choose Show Options from the palette menu. Select the Stroke button in the toolbox and set the stroke to None by clicking the None icon. Click the Fill button in the toolbox to make the Fill active; then click the White, Black linear gradient in the Swatches palette.
2. Modify the gradient.
In the toolbox, select the Rectangle tool and click it on the artboard. In the Rectangle dialog box, enter 4 inches for Width and 5 inches for Height, and click OK.
Make sure that the gradient is still selected. Then click the Night Blue swatch in the Swatches palette and drag it to the black square (the stop) below the gradient slider in the Gradient palette to change its color.
Click the blue gradient stop and duplicate it by holding down Alt/Option and dragging to the left. Repeat this process two more times. Now click the white gradient stop below the gradient slider and Alt/Option-click the Night Blue swatch in the Swatches palette. Your Gradient palette should resemble the following image.
