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Jason Burnett
Jason Burnett
Inspiring
Sep 22, 2020 5:29 AM UTC
Answered

Illustrator Gradient Tool Not Expanding Correctly

When creating a single color opacity gradient and then expanding the shape to create separate objects, you get messed up results: A clipping mask with two solid rectangles in it regardless of how many objects you told it to create when you expanded the shape.

Here are the steps I took and the results I expected vs what I got. Before I report this as a bug, does anyone want to tell me how stupid I am and that this is a feature of Illustrator and not a bug? 

 

If not, I will report this as a bug. I don't want to waste the dev's time if this is the expected behavior and I am just expecting too much. 

    Myra Ferguson
    Myra FergusonCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    Oct 7, 2020 9:41 PM UTC

    I tried your steps and got something similar, but it wasn't exactly the same. I got 3 rectangles with the top one more of a charcoal gray. I also only got the horizontal line at the top. It does seem like there's something not quite right with it. I also tried it with white in the center at 100% opacity. Expanding that yieled the expected result. If you want various levels of opacity, you could also try making a blend. Also, if you haven't already reported the bug, you can report it to Uservoice.

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    6 replies

    William38090600mwyp
    Participant
    Aug 21, 2024 7:38 AM UTC

    I have this issue in 2024...

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      Monika Gause
      Community Expert
      Monika GauseCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      Aug 21, 2024 9:40 AM UTC
      @William38090600mwyp  schrieb:

      I have this issue in 2024...

      Please show screenshots?

       

      Are you also working with transparency in the gradient? 

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      Ton Frederiks
      Community Expert
      Ton FrederiksCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      Oct 8, 2020 10:49 AM UTC

      It may be related to the impossibility to add transparent colors to the swatches panel.

      Something else I noticed there is also a path generated that has only 2 points and is at the same time a closed object.

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        Anna Lander
        Anna Lander
        Inspiring
        Oct 8, 2020 10:04 AM UTC

        yes, looks like a bug in ransparency module. Usnig B-W-B gradient, all works fine, but with 100-0-100 Black it creates (in my case) 4 rectangles: dark gray - black - black - dark gray. 

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          Myra Ferguson
          Community Expert
          Myra FergusonCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
          Community Expert
          Oct 7, 2020 9:41 PM UTC

          I tried your steps and got something similar, but it wasn't exactly the same. I got 3 rectangles with the top one more of a charcoal gray. I also only got the horizontal line at the top. It does seem like there's something not quite right with it. I also tried it with white in the center at 100% opacity. Expanding that yieled the expected result. If you want various levels of opacity, you could also try making a blend. Also, if you haven't already reported the bug, you can report it to Uservoice.

          Translate
          Jason Burnett
          Jason BurnettAuthor
          Inspiring
          Oct 8, 2020 3:34 AM UTC

          Thanks for trying it out. I will submit a bug report now that someone else has tried it. I always like to ask here first because some things that I consider to be bugs because they defy all logic turn out to be what the developers had in mind. Now that I have confirmation that something strange is going on, I'll submit the bug report and begin holding my breath (just kidding).

           

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