Gradient following the shape

[virginiao98791477]

I see this has been discussed before, but I still haven't found what I'm looking for.
I have artwork with dozens of objects (tree leaves). I can easily fill them with a gradient, but I would like the gradient to follow the curves - such as the inner glow or drop shadow does -  rather than the linear fill that doesn't make much sense spatially. I see that I can hit each one with a gradient mesh, then spend days or weeks moving each handle to add the curve to the gradient, but there's GOT to be a better way. We can land stuff on Mars but can't quickly color an object in a way that agrees with the shape?

Virginia

[Kurt Gold]

Landing things on Mars is possible. Stating which version of Illustrator one is using may also be possible …

As for your request: You have eyes, a brain and an imagination about the "right" direction of your leaves. Illustrator does not have that kind of intelligent perception.

Therefore, a well-thought-out approach is still required to do what you want. With brushes, gradient meshes or whatever techniques are there in the Illustrator version you are using.

[virginiao98791477]

Thank you for your slightly smarmy reply that wasn't any help. If it's not possible, one can merely state it plainly.

If an inner glow follows the curves of the outline of my shape, then it would seem possible, that yes, Illustrator detects the curve. But if I am wrong, so be it.

[Kurt Gold]

Was that really smarmy?

Just wanted to tell that Illustrator does not have the capabilities that you are expecting at the moment.

The Inner Glow thing is a completely different thing and it is not "shape direction sensitive" at all. It just detects the edges of a path, but not the "natural" direction of a gradient fill that may be what you think is the right direction. It is rather a pretty dumb effect.

[Myra Ferguson]

If you're using the October 2018 version, you can do freeform gradients New and enhanced features | Latest release of Illustrator CC

[Jacob Bugge]

Virginia,

It might also help helpers help you if you show some representation of which kind of colour transition(s) you wish to have within which kind(s) of leaf shape(s)/structure(s).

One most shocking statement, John (3rd in 2nd in 1st, of course).

[rcraighead]

There are several "Edit Color" options available that might help you. Set the color for the top and bottom items then select all the path items and run "Blend Horizontally". This will change the color of each object with incremental colors.

I started with a "leaf" brush and expanded it for this example. The expanded art had to be ungrouped and bounding boxes deleted using "Select Same Appearance".

To get subtle changes (red to orange to yellow) you'll need to do it in two selections.

[Daniel E Lane · Accepted solution]

The new Freeform Gradients work great to follow a shape. Quite easy to use. You can do it with just points, but i did the image below using the lines style instead. The line had 12 points on it, each changing color slightly.

Not an exciting shape, but the gradation totally follows the path of the shape. I'll try another something just to show how it works more.