JDW Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 Coming from Illustrator, I am confused as to how to fine tune my gradients in Affinity Designer. In AD, it seems like I must use the Gradient Tool to create and edit my gradients. Is it true there is no precision editor in AD? In Illustrator, you select your gradient, then click Gradient in the toolbar at right, and you then have command of just about everything imaginable. But in AD, I must select my gradient, then switch to the Gradient tool, and then there is a line that appears over the gradient object, which allows me to change colors, add points, move a slider, etc. But editing on the object itself isn't always preferred. And often when I slide that slider, it snaps to points, even though I have snap disabled, preventing me from making precision edits. I figured out I can kill that snap by holding down the option key, but it's still not super precise to do it like that. In Illustrator, I can type in an exact percentage figure. No way to do that in AD from what I can see. Or is it just me? Am I missing something? It would seem only logical and intuitive that if I click on a gradient and then double-click on the round color circle in the "Color" tab at right that it should open up a precision gradient editor for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A_B_C Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 You can choose "Gradient" as a fill type and change it from the context tool bar. And holding the Option key will override snapping globally … hope that helps … :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDW Posted July 15, 2015 Author Share Posted July 15, 2015 Thank you for pointing that out to me. But how do I change the ANGLE? In Illustrator's Gradient panel it's easy because there is an "Angle" field. I don't see such in the Gradient Panel of Affinity Designer. Gear maker 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A_B_C Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 Yes, I fear an angle value can’t be entered numerically … you would have to use the Gradient Tool instead … at least this is how I do it … :unsure: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimGoshorn Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 That's one area that Designer definitely falls short: numeric entry of values. I put in a feature request for numeric entry of size and location in the context bar. It may be convienent to click and drag but there are many times it's much more precise to enter numbers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BueroBelik Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 I have a similar problem. Coming from Illustrator I am used to being able to RE-EDIT my gradient masks quite easily. Just click on the gradient, choose the gradient tool and edit the colors, opacities, etc... in the gradient panel and change the points, angle and width of the gradient directly in the workspace. I have yet to find out how to do this in AD.... Am I doing something wrong or am I missing something obvious? 1) I create a mask layer 2) I select the mask layer 3) After selecting the gradient tool I drag an approximate gradient over my layer 4) In the context menu I select "Linear" in the dropbox and can adjust color points and opacity 5) I deselect the layer mask Now I am UNABLE to re-select my gradient mask to readjust something. When i click on the mask layer again I can see the boundary box of the gradient and can adjust that but i cannot select the gradient itself! When I choose the gradient tool, the dropbox menu is empty again and when i click on it all my adjustments are gone and I have to redo everything. I really hope I am doing something wrong and there is a way to do this! Any suggestions? Regards, Jan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff MEB Posted March 15, 2016 Staff Share Posted March 15, 2016 Hi BueroBelik, Welcome to Affinity Forums :) The Mask layer is pixel based and as soon as you deselect it the gradient config is lost. You didn't specify what you want to achieve, but you can use the Transparency Tool directly on an object or image to control its opacity. It lets you add additional nodes, change the type of Transparency (Linear, Radial etc) and remains editable as you want. Quote A Guide to Learning Affinity Software | Affinity Quick Reference Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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