Colour

Member lesson

Gradients and how to use them without ruining things

Lesson 21 of 27 in Colour.

How to Get PERFECT GRADIENTS Every Time! · Dansky
Lesson

A gradient is two or more colours blended across a space, and it goes wrong in two reliable ways: the middle turns muddy, or the steps become visible as bands.

banding · too few steps, one huesmooth · the hue travels tooa gradient between two tints of one colour always bands
A gradient banding in eight steps against the same gradient made smooth.
A designer on a beach at sunset holds up a tablet whose blue to yellow blend has a dull grey band in the middle, against a sky that shifts cleanly from blue to gold.
A designer holds a screen gradient up to a sunset. The sky runs cleanly from blue to gold, while the screen's blend has sagged into grey in the middle.
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Members answer these 3 questions and keep the ticket for this lesson. Every lesson has one.

  1. Question 1, locked

    Which of these words means this? “Visible steps in what should be a smooth blend. The commonest gradient failure.”

    • Duotone
    • Complementary
    • Additive colour
    • Banding
  2. Question 2, locked

    Which of these words means this? “Which colour space the blend is calculated in. Decides whether the middle goes grey.”

    • Contrast ratio
    • Pigment
    • Interpolation space
    • Tone
  3. Question 3, locked

    Which of these words means this? “The muddy middle where two hues meet through grey.”

    • Ground
    • Value
    • Dead zone
    • ICC profile

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