Gradient From Art Panel

The menu item to show and hide the Gradient From Art panel can be found in the main menu under Window > Astute Graphics > Gradient From Art. When the Gradient From Art tool is not in use, the panel displays only a “Click to select” message; clicking anywhere on the panel selects the tool and displays all the controls.

Gradient From Art Panel

1. Flyout menu

Contains a single menu item which brings up the Preferences dialog (see Gradient From Art: Preferences).

2. Panel banner

The Gradient From Art panel banner has a help button on the right which opens the help documentation in the Astute Manager. If this does not automatically appear, please ensure your Astute Manager is running first.

3. Gradient Preview Area

Shows the gradient that would result from using the sampling line with the current settings. If the sampling line is edited, or a parameter is changed, or the artwork is changed, then the gradient is automatically recalculated. The gradient’s stops are displayed for reference, but are not directly editable. If no sampling line exists, the preview area will display “No Sampling Line”, and if the gradient is incomplete or in the process of being calculated, the preview area will display “Calculating...”.

4. Stop Count

Shows the current number of stops in the gradient. A warning symbol will be displayed next to the stop count when it exceeds 256 stops, because Illustrator does not render stops past that limit.

5. Fidelity

Not available when Node-Only Sampling is enabled. Fidelity determines how closely the gradient matches the original sampled colors. It can range from 1 to 10, with a default of 3. Higher fidelity values retain subtle color changes at the expense of creating a gradient with more stops, which generally makes it more difficult to manually tweak later.

Gradient From Art Panel Fidelity Examples

6. Smoothness

Not available when Node-Only Sampling is enabled. Smoothness controls how gradually transitions from one color to another are made; it is essentially a kind of Gaussian blur for stop colors. This is most evident when sampling from source art that has sharp transitions. The setting can range from 0 to 100, with a default of 3. The lowest value will produce very sharp transitions, but it does not produce stacked gradient stops, which are not recommended due to these types of gradient’s poor rendering. (They can, however, be created using the Gradient Forge panel).

Gradient From Art Panel Smoothness Examples

7. Allow Transparency

When enabled, transparency in the sampled art will be retained in the gradient stops. If there is no artwork under a sampling location, the color will be set to 100% transparent.

8. Force Grayscale

When enabled, all sampled colors will be converted to their grayscale equivalent.

9. Auto Crop

Not available when Node-Only Sampling is enabled. When Auto Crop is enabled, white or partially transparent stops are trimmed off the ends of the gradient (unless the gradient only has two stops). This makes it possible to sample artwork from end to end without having to place the sampling line end nodes exactly on the edges of the object(s):

Gradient From Art Panel Auto Crop

10. Node-Only Sampling

When enabled, colors for the gradient stops are not sampled continuously along the sampling line, but rather only at the nodes. Each node corresponds to exactly one stop, which will be evenly spaced along the gradient.

Gradient From Art Panel Node Only Sampling

11. Save to Gradient Forge Pocket Button

Saves the previewed gradient into a pocket on the Gradient Forge panel. The gradient will be put into the first empty pocket. If there are no empty pockets, a warning dialog will appear, allowing you to overwrite the last pocket.

Gradient From Art No Free Pockets Warning

As noted at the bottom of the warning dialog, holding Option/Alt when clicking the Save to Gradient Forge Pocket button will automatically overwrite the last pocket if there are no free pockets.

12. Save to Swatch... Button

Saves the previewed gradient into a swatch. The button brings up a dialog allowing the gradient to be named, and its direction and type changed, before it is saved:

Gradient From Art Save to Swatch Dialog

A. Swatch Name: The user-specified name of the new gradient swatch.

B. Reverse Order Checkbox: Reverses the order of the stops.

C. Linear/Radial Buttons: Specify whether the new gradient will be linear or radial.

D. Preview Area: Previews the gradient with the current settings.

E. Save Button: Saves the gradient as a swatch when clicked; the new swatch is automatically selected and displayed in the Gradient Forge panel, where it can be edited further.

If a sampling line is present (i.e., a gradient is being previewed in the panel), pressing the Enter key will have the same effect as clicking the Save to Swatch... button.