rygar

yep, but as you wrote before, this is primarily vector tool so there could be some confusion. Separate tool could be strictly bitmap-related and as such, would be much simpler to introduce for developers (they also have to think about people that already are used to how things are now and not confuse users). OTOH if it would be context sensitive (different behavior depending if we work on vector object or bitmap) or witch checkbox it would be less clutter in UI, which is also a plus, even if (little) harder to develop, I understand that more tools in toolbox in not good thing. Checkbox would be probably perfect (disabled by default so after update things would work as before until user changes it intentionally).

YES, EXACTLY. The point is that this type of gradient that behaves like brush (so you can apply one after another few times) is very versatile - I used it in many contexts - to mask, to create quick pseudo-LUTs, to make quick gradient on rasterized text and so on. It is simple and FAST way of achieving some results. Just pick a color from palette, one move on canvas and bang, done. Power is in simplicity. Just like regular brush that we use all the time.

and that is great - I am not saying that this is not valid or not needed - it should remain as available option that I will use myself in many situations. In reality they are almost the same thing. Basically destructive gradient is immediately rendered/merged with layer instead of leaving active object floating above layer. Creating separate tool that does that should be quite trivial (it would be more work to create separate icon / modify GUI and documentation than actual coding - all the methods are already there). They could be renamed to 'Dynamic/Live gradient' and 'Fast/static gradient' or something like that. Separate issue is that the gradient tool does not remember last settings (they are cleared after we change focus to different tool or layer) - I am not really sure it this is intended behavior in the first place, as other tools don't do that.

I mean QUICK masks, for example I have a photo and I want quickly make gradient mask using 2- 3 gradients. Normally I just pick layer mask and quickly slap several gradients on it - which takes me about 2-3 seconds. Creating layers and grouping them is just too much hassle to do something that simple. Again, I don't look for solutions that you provide there, I know how to get around problems. I want useful, practical tool for work, something that works quickly and gets out of my way. Creating styles or making several layers and use them to create mask just to apply a gradient is just... not efficient way to work lets say. At least for me. I watched the movies and I pulled my hair watching how you fight to do something I could do 4x times faster in Krita/PS. That is my frustration with current tool - I don't need ability to edit gradient after I applied it or edit it in place, I can predict how it will look like or simply will use Undo function (because again, it is faster for me to do that - one hand always on keyboard and so on). These solutions are typical to working with vector program. I don't like to work this way, that is why I have chosen Photo, not Designer.

there are several ways to get around limitations - but that is not the point. See, in real life pro work, I just want to do things quickly. it is partially muscle memory trained for 20 years, but not entirely. The same operation can be done the way you described, it would take about 3-5 seconds to achieve, or below 1 second operation done "my" way without much thinking. Not even talking about versatility of 'normal' gradients, that can be quickly used also for fast gradient-masking, while solution you showed is limited - yes I can copy layer with gradient, but that does not work with masks..

I can perfectly see that it may be useful for many things, it's not like I want it to be removed. But I also think it would be quite trivial to create a variant that works like Krita/PS gradient tool. There could be 2 variants that could be accessed depending on context/persona/layer type (current one for vectors, and "classic" type for bitmaps)

First of all, I must congratulate you because your software is (almost) perfect! But I would strongly, STRONGLY suggest to do something with gradient tool. This thing does not remember settings - each time I use it I have to go trough process of setting up of what I want. In addition, instead of just painting a gradient on active layer it creates an object (rectangular box that is completely useless) with a gradient, it behaves like a tool in vector program, not bitmap editor. It is basically not possible to quickly paint several gradients on a layer. When I try to paint second one, it immediately erases previous one. Also, in gradient tool there is gradient editor (quite complete and functional) in top context menu, but for some reason there is no such function on the dockers? It should be easy to move the same thing to color editing window/docker. PLEASE, make gradient tool behave like in Krita or Photoshop, ie like a kind of brush (after we paint gradient we should be able immediately create new one without any confirmations or clicking). Ability to 'dynamically modify gradient' is something that should be reserved to Designer, not bitmap editor. Also the direction in which we paint the gradient is counter intuitive (ie opposite of all other programs) - the gradient ends with chosen color instead of starting with it.