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FeedbackCommunityMember
Inspiring
May 10, 2013
Released

P: Gradient editor needs a few improvements

  • May 10, 2013
  • 98 replies
  • 4858 views

It is almost impossible to use the gradient editor to simulate blending between lights, because it draws a straight line through RGB space. It would be good to be able to select HSL and LAB colour spaces for the gradient editor, and it would be even better if you could make bezier curves through RGB space, like the free tool at http://www.foddy.net/2010/10/gentle-g... is pretty frustrating that there was more flexibility in Deluxe Paint IV's gradient tool 23 years ago than there is in Photoshop's gradient tool now.

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    FeedbackCommunityMemberAuthor
    Inspiring
    June 8, 2013
    No, just that you seem to be after an effect that doesn't normally occur in a gamma 2.2 space with just 2 colors, but is closer to what happens in a gamma 1.0 space.

    The gradient tool doesn't have a window.
    Are you referring to the gradient editor dialog, which does use the current document colorspace for it's preview?
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    FeedbackCommunityMemberAuthor
    Inspiring
    June 8, 2013
    Yes, you can achieve the same gradient in Photoshop pretty easily. I'm not sure why you're struggling so much with the gradient editor.
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    FeedbackCommunityMemberAuthor
    Inspiring
    June 8, 2013
    It's not the same at all.

    I honestly don't get why you're being so hostile to this suggestion. I'm trying to help you make a fairly simply tweak that would greatly improve the usefulness of the application to me and many others like me. You haven't changed or improved this aspect of PS in at least a decade - it's very strange!
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    FeedbackCommunityMemberAuthor
    Inspiring
    June 8, 2013
    "That's the same gradient with the middle spread out slightly." the point is there is no good-looking way to spread out the middle point using photoshop!
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    FeedbackCommunityMemberAuthor
    Inspiring
    June 8, 2013
    So Chris, let me get this clear: you're saying I need to change the color space of my photoshop document in order to get attractive gradients? And if I want to tweak how a particular gradient works, I have to change the colour space again?

    Even if that was an acceptable workflow, the preview you get in the gradient tool window doesn't use the current colour space, which reduces this to a very slow, annoying process of trial-and-error.
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    FeedbackCommunityMemberAuthor
    Inspiring
    May 16, 2013
    BTW - the halfway point between 255,128,0 and 0,0,255 should be 128, 64, 128 -- which is desaturated violet, not gray. You are trying to simulate something that is not the mathematical gradient between those 2 end colors.
    You'd need complimentary colors (255,255,0 and 0,0,255) to get gray in the middle.
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    FeedbackCommunityMemberAuthor
    Inspiring
    May 16, 2013
    Here is the gradient you get using your 2 end colors in Photoshop.
    This is the mathematical result of interpolating those colors.


    And for a physical simulation of blending light, you would need to use a gamma 1.0 colorspace, which looks like this:

    Or with gray in the middle:
    Axiom DeSigns
    Axiom DeSigns
    Participating Frequently
    May 15, 2013
    you're not crazy Bennet, your tool's result is much better.
    Heck, I'd even like to use it.
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    FeedbackCommunityMemberAuthor
    Inspiring
    May 10, 2013
    And that is almost identical to your "desired" result above.
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    FeedbackCommunityMemberAuthor
    Inspiring
    May 10, 2013
    That's the same gradient with the middle spread out slightly.
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