halftone / gradient /solid

[anabelh]

Hi all, I'm looking to recreate this - a halftone gradient that ends in solids on both sides. Wonder if this is possible without having to get Phantasm?

[barbara_a]

You could try these steps.

Draw a rectangle and fill it with a black to white gradient.

Effect > Rasterize.

Effect > Pixelate > Color Halftone.

To make the white appear transparent, change to Darken mode in the Transparency panel.

Optional: If you don't want the object to remain an effect, you can Object > Expand. Then you may want to Image Trace the expanded object. Experiment with Threshold and turn on Ignore White.

[tromboniator]

Barbara, I'm curious about why you're using the Rasterize effect. As far as I can see, it only affects the size of the halftone dots, which you can adjust in the halftone effect anyway.

Peter

[barbara_a]

Hi tromboniator -- you're right, that step is not necessary. Thanks for your eagle eye.

[jdanek]

It is possible, but there is a few steps involved.  I recreated the halftone pattern using a Blend ( first dot .0625"; create a second dot .125" about half way up the pattern, Blend using 14 steps ) > after you've created a row of dots, select it and step it ( Move vertical +.125"; horizontal .125"; Copy ) > you should have 2 rows of dots, the second row is stepped, now select both rows of dots and duplicate it by moving them both .25" horizontally ( remember to copy ); continue by hitting command D ( duplicate ) as many times is necessary to make the width of the background.  Next, select all of the dots and group them > Reflect Horizontally; Copy.  So now you have the bottom half of the gradient and the top half of the gradient > Align the top pattern to appear there is no seam.  You will need a gradient for the background and for the halftone dot pattern ( you will use the same gradient for both ).  I created the halftone dot pattern using a ninety degree angle, so now you can use the rotate tool to angle the dots -28 degrees.  Create a ( linear ) gradient using Orange and Purple.  With the Gradient tool, create the ( background ) gradient angle direction to match the dot angle.  Apply the same gradient to the dot pattern ( both bottom and top should be grouped ).  If you need them, I can submit screen shots of the steps.

[jdanek]

Sorry.  I forgot to mention I enlarged your PNG 200% and used it as a template Layer.  All work was done on a separate draw layer.  The size of the Blend dots can be different, as the number of steps in the Blend, too. 

[Lhemz0527 · Accepted solution]

To complete the steps as suggested by Barbara Ash

Here it is:

Step 1: Create a rectangle with a black and white gradient. You may want to add another black stop/point to extend the dark area

Step 2: Apply Effect -> Pixelate -> Color Halftone (you may want to increase the maximum radius (dot size) to create accurate circle dots later.

Step 3: If you forgot to increase the dot size. Ensure that you increase the resolution in the Effect -> Document Raster Effect Settings.

Step 4: Expand Appearance (Object Menu -> Expand Appearance)

Step 5: Image Trace (Object Menu -> Image Trace -> Make).
Don't forget to show the Image Trace Panel for the fine-tuning of the settings (Window menu -> Image Trace)

Step 6: Once you're satisfied with the trace, Expand (Object Menu -> Expand)

Step 7: Ungroup twice (Object menu -> Ungroup or Ctrl+Shift+G)

Step 8: Make Compound Path (Object menu -> Compound Path -> Make)

Step 9: Apply a gradient to the compound path (you won't achieve the gradient unless you make a compound path)

Step 10: Create a rectangle with your background color, and Send to back

Now you can rotate, add clipping mask or combine with your artwork!

[anabelh]

awesome, thank you everyone!! Just putting it together now

[anabelh]

Follow-up question:

even though I've extended the black area, it still appears with dots when converted to half tone?

[Doug A Roberts]

what colour mode are you working in? is it RGB black (0/0/0)?