Making a gradient follow a path

[ufoldager]

Hi!

How do I make a gradient follow the curves of a path in a fairly simple manner? Like this image here:

Thank you!

[Jacob Bugge]

ufoldager,

In any version you may turn the gradient into a Blend and make an Art Brush out of it, then apply it to the path (a 1pt Stroke will give you the width of the Art Brush).

In the newest versions, you can just apply a gradient to the Stroke (which will need to have the desired Stroke Weight itself).

[ufoldager]

Thanks, God.

[Jacob Bugge]

You are welcome, ufoldager.

[elDudereno]

Just for the sake of clarity shall we add:

Use "Apply gradient along stroke"

(Thanks for the info Jacob, I hadn't looked at these options very closely.)

[ufoldager]

Exactly, mr. elDudereno.

I actually already knew the "gradient along stroke" option, but I had forgotten all about it since I rarely use it. But thanks for the heads-up!

Here's another lille thing, though:

What technique would you use if you took that stroke, upped the stroke to, say, 40 pt. (making it much thicker), then made an Object > Path > Outline Stoke modifcation to it, turning the 40 pt. stroke into a single object, and then wanted to apply a gradient to an object of that shape along its curved lines?

[elDudereno]

Evidently, if you have a gradient along a stroke and you expand it you get a gradient mesh. Weird/Cool.

[ufoldager]

Thanks. I have no idea why I didn't figure that out myself, meh.