Comments on: The Gradient Panel Is Such a Drag

By: Rebekah

Rebekah — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 01:33:19 +0000

BTW: That thank you is directed to the author, Mike Rankin, of course.

By: Rebekah

Rebekah — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 01:31:31 +0000

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I was sooo frustrated, but now my gradient is colorful, thanks entirely to you. The Adobe help page is a misnomer for sure.

By: Barbu

Barbu — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 21:02:17 +0000

Wow. What a great trick and so simple.
Thanks.

By: David Blatner

David Blatner — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 22:44:30 +0000

@Barbu: If you have Adobe Illustrator, apply a cool gradient there, then copy the object and paste it into InDesign: http://indesignsecrets.com/getting-cool-illustrator-gradients-into-indesign.php

By: Barbu

Barbu — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 19:11:05 +0000

I’m fairly new to InDesign and am having trouble creating gradient swatches. Are there any free or inexpensive downloads of various gradient swatches available?

By: Tim

Tim — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 15:14:11 +0000

Joe
Why not make the desired blend in AI? You will then have total control over the end result, Star, Triangle, Square any shape you want.

By: Mike Rankin

Mike Rankin — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 18:25:05 +0000

It might not give you just what you need. It’s kinda like using a butter knife as a screwdriver. But in a pinch, it’s worth a shot. I might write it up as a post sometime.

Actually it would be funny to do a, “What could you do Quark 4, But not in CS4,” post, and the workarounds.

By: Joe

Joe — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 16:51:33 +0000

Thanks Mike. It does help but I still can’t quite get what I was looking for. I had a large square that a customer wanted me to put a radial gradient in. The wanted the gradient effect to be square in the box. By default ID makes it a circle. I’ve been playing with tip you gave me and I’ve gotten in better but not perfect yet. I’ll keep messing with it.

Thanks again for the great help!

By: Mike Rankin

Mike Rankin — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 14:13:59 +0000

Joe-

What you’re talking about sounds like an Illustrator-style blend. Since ID doesn’t have a Blend tool or command, you’ll have to fake it.

Try using an Inner Glow. Fill your square or star with one color. Then choose Object > Effects > Inner Glow.

Set the blending mode to Normal and click the swatch button and pick your second color. Set it to 100% opacity.

Now you’ll have to monkey with the Options to make it look nice. Choke it 50% or less. You can reverse the blend by switching the Source from Center to Edge or vice versa.

By: Joe

Joe — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:31:11 +0000

This does help. The question I have is how to make a radial gradient but instead of a round one make it like a star or even a square. I haven’t been able to figure out how to do it. When I needed a square radial gradient I did it in Quark, then made a pdf of it and imported the pdf into Indesign CS3. There has to be a way of doing it in CS3.