How to Create a Gradient in Pixelmator

This is a basic tutorial that will show you how to create a gradient in Pixelmator. Pixelmator is a stylish and competitively priced image editor for Mac OS X users, with a strong range of features. While it doesn't have the outright power of Adobe Photoshop or, indeed, the free open source image editor GIMP, it will offer more than enough image editing power for many users.

If you're a Photoshop or GIMP user loking for an alternative for working on your Mac, you'll quickly become comfortable with most of the Pixelmator user interface. Many of the tools and features will already be familiar, though there maybe a few things that you miss. However in some respects, the way that Pixelmator implements some features may seem a little alien and take a little time to get to grips with.

One example of this is that it isn't immediately obvious how to create a gradient in Pixelmator. In GIMP and Photoshop, you have the option to select, from among others, gradients that use the currently selected foreground and backround colors. In Pixelmator, however, you have to specify specific colors for gradients, meaning that if you want a basic gradient that blends from the current foreground color to the background color, you have to create and save a gradient using these colors. 

Fortunately this process is quite straightforward, though in time you could find your Gradients dialog starting to fill up with gradients that were created for specific one-time uses. The following steps will show you how to create a gradient in Pixelmator or edit an existing one.

• How to Create a Gradient in Pixelmator
• Create a New Gradient
• The Pixelmator Gradient Editor
• Change the Color of a Pixelmator Gradient
• Add a Third Color to a Pixelmator Gradient