Bring your design to life with color and gradients

Apply color using swatches or gradients for vibrant, custom results. Add transparency to create layered effects.

Published December 18, 2025

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00:01

Introduction

In Adobe Illustrator, creating and applying color is a fantastic way to express creativity.

You can tie something to a brand; you can convey emotion and a whole lot more.

Let's jump into color and have some fun.

With this social ad open, you can see some artwork that needs color.

And I've got the final on the right.

00:19

Understanding fill, stroke, and basic color application

Starting with this fork, go ahead and select it with the Selection Tool.

I'll zoom in a little.

To change the color, look in the Properties panel over here, and the Toolbar here, and even in the Taskbar you'll see one of those icons.

You're going to see these two icons all over the place.

When it comes to shapes, this icon is the Fill of the shape or the inside color of the shape, and this icon is the border or what they call a Stroke in Illustrator.

You can select which one you want to edit and make that change.

Come to the Taskbar and click the Fill box.

With the Swatches selected here, you can see saved colors, called Swatches.

You can select any of these to apply them.

Say you want to make your own color, the Color Mixer here is where you can sample a color, trying to get close to what you want.

Or if you want to get to a specific color or maybe refine this color, you can drag these sliders or enter values.

By default, shapes you make have a white fill and a black border on them.

We're going to remove that border from the fork.

To remove the border, you can set this Stroke value to 0 pt, or you can apply a color to the Stroke of None.

So, go ahead and remove it.

For a little practice, change the fill color and border of the carrot and the pepper, and see what you come up with.

If you've already got color in a project and you want to use that color, you can just sample it.

Come to the spoon shape and select it.

To sample, you need the Eyedropper Tool, so you can either press the letter I on your keyboard to get there or go select it in the Toolbar.

Then click on the fork to sample and apply the same color.

It's that easy.

Notice that it did the same fill and border, or stroke.

We've got basic color changes,

02:10

Creating depth with gradients

but what if you want to add some depth through color, using what are called gradients.

Gradients are a blend of at least two colors, and you can add a lot of colors if you want to.

This kiwi would probably look a little more realistic if we added a little color dimension through a gradient.

Go ahead and select it with the Selection Tool.

The Gradient Tool is one way to apply and change a color gradient, so go ahead and select it in the Toolbar.

So, you apply the gradient to the fill of an object, make sure the Fill is selected here.

In other words, click on it and it'll be up front.

If the Color panel group opens, you can close that.

You can then click a shape, like the kiwi, to apply a white to black gradient.

Now you can see this bar here.

This bar is actually the gradient.

You're going to see white on one end and black on the other.

If you want to change the colors, you can double-click on one of those little color circles, and then pick something else, using any other method, like maybe a swatch.

Now try changing the other color.

After you've got your color set, you can adjust the size and direction of the gradient by dragging across the shape.

And if you don't like it, it's not perfect, keep trying, just keep dragging.

For some practice, why don't you apply a gradient

03:32

Reusing colors and gradients with the eyedropper

to each of these hearts up here?

Here's a tip: You can make a gradient for one of them, then select the other, and sample the first gradient with the Eyedropper Tool.

There are a ton of ways to be creative with color in Illustrator, but this is just the beginning.

And here's a bonus: If you want to take your creativity further,

03:52

Enhancing artwork with opacity and blend modes

you really need to work with Opacity and Blend modes.

Come to this other Kiwi here, and I think it would look better if this circle was actually transparent or see through, select it with the Selection Tool and you can change the Opacity over here in the Properties panel to make it as transparent as you want.

Take what you've learned here creating with color, and try experimenting with different colors across this project and come up with your own version in a social ad.

What you’ll learn

Fill shapes and outlines with color

Apply solid colors to fills and strokes. Use swatches, mix custom colors, or sample from other objects for consistency.

Create vibrant gradients that pop

Add dimension and flair with gradients that transition smoothly across shapes, borders, or backgrounds.

Layer colors with transparency

Create depth and variation by making colors partially see-through and letting them interact with colored objects below.

Instruction by: Brian Wood

Try these tutorials with Illustrator

Create illustrations and other graphics with vectors.

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