Source, Type, Editing and Preview

Gradient Source

Indicates the source of the gradient currently being edited. This may be the selected swatch, the selected art’s fill, or the selected art’s stroke. If the selected artwork has a gradient in both the fill and the stroke, a popup menu will be displayed allowing you to switch between the two.

Type Popup

Changes the active gradient between linear and radial. Option/Alt-clicking the “Type:” label is a fast way to switch the menu between its two values.

Editing Mode Popup

Determines how changes to a gradient are applied. Instance Only mode (the default) acts similarly to the native Gradient panel: edits to the gradient are only applied to the selected artwork. If the gradient is used elsewhere, it remains unchanged. Therefore, a new gradient is created. But in Global mode, changes are immediately applied to the gradient wherever it appears in the document, including all art objects (regardless of selection, locked or hidden status); symbols; swatches, etc. Because this powerful functionality can also cause unintended changes if you are not aware of how it works, a tip dialog will be displayed the first time the Editing Mode is changed to Global. Enabling the Don’t show again setting will keep the dialog from showing again (unless tips and warnings are reset; see Gradient Forge: Flyout Menu).

When editing a swatch gradient with no gradient art selected, the setting is hidden, because swatch editing is always done in Global mode.

Live Preview

When enabled, changing the active gradient by dragging (such as moving, duplicating, or deleting gradient stops) causes the affected art to be updated in real time. Because Illustrator gives priority to artboard redraw, this may cause some lag in the redraw of the panel interface elements.