Try It: Alternating Stripes “Gradient”

Demo videos for desktop computers and an iPad are at the bottom of the page.

Click here to download a printable PDF of this lesson: Try It: Alternating Stripes Gradients

Part One. Set up the Gradients Editor.

1. Click the “Gradients” button to activate the Gradients Editor.
2. Click “Select All Warp”. In this exercise, you’ll be placing the alternating stripes gradient across the entire warp.
3. The Gradients popup will now appear.

Part Two. Create your basic gradient.

1. Select your first gradient color by clicking in one of the colored boxes at the top of the screen.
2. Select your second gradient color by clicking in a different colored box.
3. Select the gradient type “Alternating Stripes”.
4. An alternating stripes gradient will now appear in the preview box.

Part Three. Play with your gradient.

1. In the left-hand thread size box, select “40 threads”. (The right box should still be set to the default, 1 thread.)
   Notice that you now alternate 40-thread stripes of one color with single-thread stripes of the other color.
2. Click “Reversed” to see how the stripes reverse in order.
3. Click “Show Opposite Side” to check out the back side of the gradient.
4. Change the colors around by clicking the color selector boxes at the top of the screen to put new colors into your gradient.
5. Now, change the right-hand thread size box to “40 threads” so the stripes are equal in size.
6. Finally, click “Save Colors” to save the colors and transfer the gradient to the main Color Editor.

Part Four: Create a multicolor gradient.

Now you have alternating stripes of 40 threads each. You can use these color changes as markers in all sorts of ways. For example, if you are creating a striped gradient where all the stripes are the same width, you can use your 40-thread stripes as guidelines to mark where the colors should change.

Or if you are creating multiple gradients that are 40 threads wide, you can use these stripes as markers for positioning your gradients. Simply click “Gradients” and then select one entire 40-thread stripe to place your gradient where the stripe was.

This “Alternating Stripe” gradient, while not a gradient in itself, is an incredibly useful tool in creating other gradient designs.

1. Using the 40-thread stripe as a guideline, create a linear, curved, Fibonacci 1, or Fibonacci 2 gradient that is exactly 40 threads wide. Do this by clicking the Gradients button and then selecting the threads in one entire stripe, then creating the gradient as you’ve learned in previous lessons.

Note that the Color Editor is browser-based software: It works in your browser. There is nothing to download. It’s right below this sentence, in the box below the three red arrows – just start clicking. (That’s a live program, not a screenshot.)

Demo video – Desktop

Demo video – iPad