Adding Fun and Useful Effects - Photoshop Elements 13: The Missing Manual - page 724

▪ Dither . Use this setting to avoid banding and create smooth color transitions.
▪ Align with layer . This setting keeps the gradient in line with the layer. Turn it off and
you can pull the gradient around in your image to place it exactly where you want it. At
least, that's how it's supposed to work; you can usually drag while the dialog box is vis-
ible, even if this setting is turned on, but not after you click OK.
When the gradient looks good, click OK to create the layer. You can edit it later by heading
to the Layers panel and double-clicking the layer's leftmost icon (the gradient thumbnail).
Doing so opens the Gradient Fill dialog box so you can change its settings or choose a differ-
ent gradient.
Editing Gradients
Elements' Gradient Editor lets you create gradients that include any color you like. You can
even make ones in which the color fades to transparency, or modify existing gradient presets.
Alas, the Gradient Editor isn't the easiest tool in the world to use. This section tells you the
basics you need to get started. Then, as is the case with so many of Elements' features, play-
ing around with the Gradient Editor is the best way to understand how it works.
You need to have the Gradient tool active (simply press G) to launch the Gradient Editor.
After you activate the tool, in the Tool Options area, click the Edit button to summon the
Gradient Editor ( Figure 13-22 ), which displays the current gradient. You can choose a differ-
ent gradient by picking from the thumbnails at the top of the Gradient Editor window, or by
clicking the Preset menu at the upper left of the window and choosing a category.
To get started using the Gradient Editor, first choose your gradient's type and smoothness
settings using the controls below the gradient previews:
▪ Type . Your choices are Solid and Noise. Solid gradients are the most common; they let
you create transitions between solid blocks of color. Noise gradients, which are covered
later in this section, produce bands of color, as you might see in a spectrometer.
▪ Smoothness . This setting controls how even the transitions between colors are.