Warp & Weave

Try It: Curved 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: Curved 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 curved 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 the top of the Gradient Editor.
    Choose a DARK COLOR for your first gradient color.
  2. Select your second gradient color by clicking in a different colored box.
    Choose a LIGHT COLOR for your second gradient color.
  3. Select the gradient type “Curved”.
  4. A curved gradient will now appear in the preview box.

Part Three. Play with your gradient.

  1. Slide the Scale slider back and forth to see how it changes the curved gradient. At a small scale, the curve will appear less three-dimensional; at a bigger scale, it will appear to rise further up out of the “fabric”.
  2. Slide the Threading Unit control up and down to see how changing the number of threads in each stripe changes the look of the curved gradient. Try playing with both Threading Unit and Scale to see how it changes the look!
  3. Click “Reversed” to see how it inverts the gradient.
  4. Click “Show Opposite Side” to check out the back side of the gradient.
  5. Change the colors around by clicking the color selector boxes at the top of the screen to put new colors into your gradient.
  6. Finally, click “Save Colors” to save the colors and transfer the gradient to the main Color Editor, where you can edit it however you like.

Part Four: Continue Playing!

Now you’re familiar with the very basic functionality of the Curved Gradient. Here are some other things you can play with:

  1. Curved gradients across just part of the warp (click and drag to select just part of the warp when starting the Gradients Editor, rather than clicking “Select All Warp”)
  2. Curved gradients across part or all of the weft
  3. Curved gradients in both warp AND weft

Enjoy!

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