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<h3 class="title"><a id="gimp-gradients"></a>4.9. Gradients</h3>
</div>
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<a id="id3311485" class="indexterm"></a>
<div class="informalfigure">
<div class="mediaobject">
<img src="../images/using/gradient-examples.png" />
<div class="caption">
<p>
Some examples of GIMP gradients.
</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>
A <span class="emphasis"><em>gradient</em></span> is a set of colors arranged in a
linear order. The most basic use of gradients is by the <a href="ch03s06s03.html" title="6.3. Gradient Tool">Blend tool</a>, sometimes known as
the "gradient tool" or "gradient fill tool": it works by filling
the selection with colors from a gradient. You have many options
to choose from for controlling the way the gradient colors are
arranged within the selection. There are also other
important ways to use gradients, including:
</p>
<div class="variablelist">
<dl>
<dt>
<span class="term">Painting with a gradient</span>
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
Each of GIMP's basic painting tools allows you the option of
using colors from a gradient. This enables you to create
brushstrokes that change color from one end to the other.
</p>
</dd>
<dt>
<span class="term">The Gradient Map filter</span>
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
This filter allows you to "colorize" a grayscale image, by
replacing each shade of gray with the corresponding color from a
gradient. See the <a href="ch06s03s09.html" title="3.9. Gradient Map">Gradient
Map</a> section for more information.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
</div>
<p>
When you install GIMP, it comes presupplied with a large number of
interesting gradients, and you can add new ones that you create or
download from other sources. You can access the full set of
available gradients using the <a href="ch04s12.html" title="12. Gradients dialog">Gradients dialog</a>, a dockable
dialog that you can either activate when you need it, or keep
around as a tab in a dock. The "current gradient", used in most
gradient-related operations, is shown in the
Brush/Pattern/Gradient area of the Toolbox. Clicking on the
gradient symbol in the Toolbox is an alternative way of bringing
up the Gradients dialog.
</p>
<div class="informalfigure">
<div class="mediaobject">
<img src="../images/using/gradient-usage.png" />
<div class="caption">
<p>
Four ways of using the Tropical Colors gradient: a linear
gradient fill, a
shaped gradient fill, a stroke painted using colors from
a gradient, and a stroke painted with a fuzzy brush then
colored using the Gradient Map filter.
</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>
A few useful things to know about GIMP's gradients:
</p>
<div class="itemizedlist">
<ul type="disc">
<li>
<p>
The top four gradients shown in the Gradients dialog are
special, because they
make use of GIMP's current foreground and background colors,
substituting the foreground color for black, and the
background color for white. Thus, by altering the foreground
and background colors, you can make these gradients transition
smoothly between any two colors you want. The other gradients
in the list, and any custom gradients you may create, have
fixed colors.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Gradients can involve not just color changes, but also changes
in opacity. Some of the gradients are completely opaque;
others include transparent or translucent parts. When you
fill or paint with a non-opaque gradient, the existing
contents of the layer will show through behind it.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
You can create new <span class="emphasis"><em>custom</em></span> gradients,
using the <a href="ch04s12s03.html" title="12.3. Gradient Editor">Gradient
Editor</a>. You cannot modify the gradients that are
supplied with GIMP, but you can duplicate them or create new
ones, and then edit those.
</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<p>
The gradients that are supplied with GIMP are stored in a system
<tt class="filename">gradients</tt> folder. By default, gradients that
you create are stored in a folder called
<tt class="filename">gradients</tt> in your personal GIMP directory.
Any gradient files (ending with the extension
<tt class="filename">.ggr</tt>) will automatically be loaded when you
start GIMP. You can add more directories to the gradient search
path, if you want to, in the Gradients tab of the <a href="ch04s18s16.html" title="18.16. Data Folders">Data Folders</a> pages of the
Preferences dialog.
</p>
<p>
New in GIMP 2.2 is the ability to load gradient files in SVG
format, used by many vector graphics programs. To make GIMP load
an SVG gradient file, all you need to do is place it in the
<tt class="filename">gradients</tt> folder of your personal GIMP
directory, or any other folder in your gradient search path.
</p>
<p>
You can find a large number of interesting SVG gradients on the
web, in particular at <a href="http://openclipart.org/cgi-bin/navigate/Gradients" target="_top">OpenClipArt
Gradients</a>. You won't be able to see what these gradients
look like unless your browser supports SVG, but that won't prevent
you from downloading them.
</p>
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