A short note to inform you that I’ve created a gallery for the gradients. Feel free to post me your creations and I’ll upload them as soon as I can. Keep them around 100 Kb (or less).
First e-mail : If this one doesn’t work (or you get a note that it’s full), use this alternate one :
Ray P.S. Of course, don’t let this get in the way of your Challenge creations ! P.P.S. To make room for The Gradients Museum, I had to remove the snowflakes.
Also, to remind you that there’s no rule as such. As soon as an image involves a few gradients in the difference blending mode, it qualifies. The rest is up to you (ehh.. us!) 🙂
Thanks for the compliment. Did I accidentally send the same on twice? I thought I sent one that looked like copper tubing. By the Ray, I REALLY like your gradients too! Thanks for a great project idea.
Hi Ray, Before I send my 5 Gradients to you, I need some advice on the size of the pictures. <http://www.pbase.com/image/24540412> Here in this screen shot, with the outside picture opened in PSE, shows the DOC: 854K/854K But I am confused of how the picture could be so big as it is 7.5 inches square, or 540 pixels square, and only 72 ppi. But in the inner picture superimposed into the PSE picture, when I have the same one opened using Graphic Converter, it shows the size to be 201.7KB (with all the other dimensions the same)
Which graphics program do I believe? Is the picture indeed 854 K or 201.7 K? This has always confused me. I used to use Graphic Converter to size all my pictures, but now use PSE. But never get the same document size, just the dimensions and pixels are the same. Jane
Put asside Graphic Converter for a moment, and use PSE’s own Save For Web feature. This will be a great time to learn. Go to the PSE Students group, in files section and look under my name (Ray) for two pictures named sfw01.pg and sfw02.jpg. On the sfw02.jpg, the picture to the left is the original, with its original size, and the picture to the right is the compressed one, using the settings shown on the picture.
The rest of the explanations are on the picture. If you need help, post again.
Hi Ray, Thank you! I haven’t used the sfw feature very much, but from your screenshots, I can see how it works. It is a much better way of sizing the pictures correctly, and getting the right compression. I guess that it is the compression that confused me. I will do them now, and then I will send them to you. Jane
keep in mind…the more you add to an image the larger the kb’s are as well….this is usually my biggest problem when keeping images at or below 100 kb for web without having too much degradation. All that paint weighs alot !! 🙂
Hi Ray, Here come my 5 best ones. I could make some curtains out of them! Thanks for teaching me how to use the save for web, I had forgotten about it. Sure makes it easy. I send them inside the e-mail one by one. Somebody told me that it was better to do it this way and not use attachments. But I am not sure why. They each sent in about 2 seconds, so they must be down to a decent size. This is fun! I have learned so much since last March when I started PSE. Jane
Could you occasionally re post the link to the museum for us guys that read with news readers and are too stupid to keep a record of what we read … mainly me that is.
Oh no, my eyes are bugging out ! After playing with these gradients I realized that while doing my last one ( just sent to Ray ) that this could be a good tool for ‘real’ art…ha ha ha…just kidding…seriously though, I’m finding a few new useful tips for the tool that I never really thought of t’il I started playing. Thanks for posting this museum Ray !
I’m one of those guys that actually reads the manual first but I’ve always followed that up with a lot of experimentation and play. You should know how it’s supposed to work, but knowing what you can do do with it is an entirely different thing. Experimentation and play is the best way to learn that. And besides, it’s fun!
Same here, I’m experimenting a lot and discovering several new things!
These are wonderful! Ray, your #19 is superb and Jodi’s 8 and 9 are awesome. You might get an offer for a book cover! And all of them, they are all unique. This is all so much fun,,,,,I am indeed addicted to PSE. Jane
I have met my match with gradients cross dressing. No matter how hard I try they all look like different colours of mud. Ray my man, I do hope you will forgive me for not entering the gradients museum …. I really did try.
Grant, I don’t expect everyone to enter, to the contrary, some of us are better watchers than makers (i.e. me and The Challenge). So, if gradients are not your cup of tea, then enjoy the ones we make 🙂
Grant, many of my gradient layers are used in ‘luminosity’ mode and only ‘difference’ for one or two layers…I use a 2 color pastel or light gradient as my bottom layer. I select portions of the gradient that i like and delete the rest. I use a new layer for every gradient. I use gradient colors of 4 and leave transparency at both ends…using the angle option most of the time. Perhaps this will help….I had a difficult time doing anything that looked ‘OK’ when i first started also. Anyways, you’ll probably find your own method once you get going…"please try again"…the dreaded words we get used to hearing 😉
I use selections to limit my gradients, I apply them only two or three times (depending on the effect I’m looking for), and they’re all on their own layer, sometimes in luminosity, sometimes in normal mode.
I also use the noise gradients, and I limit the colors using the RGB sliders, and I click often on Randomize.
Ray, all the pictures are fabulous. Thanks for thinking of this gradients museum. It gave me a chance to look at the use of gradients and through experimenting . . . many more uses for it and can use it in a more effective way. I had a photo that I wanted to vanish some of the background and a combination of the blur and gradient has given me the effect I was looking for.
This is sooooo much fun! All the entries are unique! Do you think that we could re-create one if we wanted to? Not me, I sure couldn’t do that, and not with the snowflakes either, that is what makes it extra fun. Thanks to Ray, for his gallery. Jane
Thank you for your encouragement. I like all the images. Of course I should add that yours and Rays are especially professinal, a whole lot better than the ones in glossy magazines.
Marty, I have no problem with that. I’m not a pro. I just do these projects for enjoyment. I really appreciate the compliment, and am glad that my gradient inspired you.
The method I am using is pulling each gradient on a seperate layer. By the way I haven’t been varying gradients, just type of gradient in each. I go through all the blending modes to find what pleases my eye the most. Halfway through, I retry blending modes on layers…sometimes making blending mode changes. As you can tell, I selectively use the twirl and shear filters. I do a Hue/Saturation layer( with colorize checked) as a last step…well next to last because I check how each one looks when saved for web. Sometimes, they look smeary or muddy so I go back and do a Hue/Saturation layer adjustment (colorize checked)to find a more web friendly coloration. Have fun. Try differnt gradients and types…if something just doesn’t look like it’s working…turn off an eye or two, and /or reset a blending mode or two. Have fun
Jane I really like your gradients….very deep and spiritual…could be the colors…could be the feeling..not sure..lovin’ it though
Wendy, love the new ones,,,got some flakes in there ?? I can’t decide which one of yours i like best since they all have something I like in one form or another.
is there an AKA for J.P. White….will he/she please step forward…I want to tell you that your work is amazing!!
Ray, Yours are way pro….you’ve done so many…you are da man !!
Terri, your 7 and 8 are tops ! You must have a background in design.
Lynn, color…fabulous colors ! You’ve mastered it ! Like fireworks in July !
Dorothy, your #3 has my heart !….really, it’s gorgeous !!
Beth C, your #1 inspired me to go forth and multiply 😉
Mark, I think your 3rd tells a deep dark story…want to talk about it ?
Not a flake in sight … I have been playing aound with offsetting the Diamond Gradient and using decreasing size Radial Gradients all on one layer. Then using Brightness & Contrast levels way up the scale.
The Gradients Museum has some fantastic entries in it … love all of yours especially the leaves one.
Thanks Jodi. No, I don’t have any formal art training. My whole family on my maternal side is artsy…so I guess it’s in the blood. I sometimes wish I had formal training but you know how life goes. Maybe if life goes well when my daughter is a little older I’ll enroll in some art courses.
Jodi- I adore your maple leaf design! It’s gorgeous! I hate to say this but it makes me want pancakes. I know it’s not the feeling you wanted to express….but gee I see the yummiest syrup in that design….must be maple syrup!
Boy, I could go on and on how much I like yours and everyone’s gradients. I don’t think there’s a bad one in the bunch. They are ALL just so unique and simply fabulous. I find it interesting how each of us have our own defining technique.
Marty, Oops made a mistake when I said to check colorize. Don’t know what I was thinking…well you could check colorize but you wouldn’t get as colorful of a result.
Challenges, Photo Challenges, Snowflakes, now Gradients…what next?? My head is spinning but what a great way to go nuts. If Grant won’t do a Gradient then who am I to try … !!! Thanks Terri for the rundown and I might give it a try after I stop spinning. Marty
DOROTHY, Your #3 and #5 caught my eye. JODI, I think the leaves in #14 add a touch of reality. RAY, #25 sure echos the party feelings of New Year’s Eve. Wouldn’t Picso (sp?) go nuts over Gradients … but then, he didn’t need it. Isn’t it a shame you can’t repeat the patterns … they are all so fascinating and interesting. Marty
Marty, I thought this one would do a better job as summarizing my New Year’s party… http://www.pbase.com/image/24691406 a écrit dans le message de
DOROTHY, Your #3 and #5 caught my eye. JODI, I think the leaves in #14 add a touch of reality. RAY, #25 sure echos the party feelings of New Year’s Eve. Wouldn’t Picso (sp?) go nuts over Gradients … but then, he didn’t need it. Isn’t it a shame you can’t repeat the patterns … they are all so fascinating and interesting. Marty
Wow, Ray! Your gradients just get more awesome with each entry. I like the shine effect…looks like the Element’s prepackaged Plastic filter or Xero’s Titanium filter applied over top to give it that beautiful shiny surface. Would I be correct? I also am awed by your gradient horizon. I think these might be better than snowflakes!
#19 : It’s a brush I designed, consisting of four circles, placed off centered. I drew a few strokes on a layer, making sure they weren’t of equal length and size. Then radial blur. Copied the layer, and rotated it.
Hi Ray, Your sunset gradient, #33 is awesome! You don’t even need Bryce, if you can make images as neat as that one. I can just imagine a space ship way in the distance,,,,,,,,, Jane
Hi, I’ve been looking in awe at the amazing gradients that you contributers have created. When I try to create a similar piece of work, the result is invariably a bland euchh. (I have been putting each gradient on its own layer and using the "multiply" blending for each. If anyone asked me what steps I took and which gradients I used, I wouldn’t be able to remember.
That having been said, would it be possible for one of you artists to give us a listing of the steps you took to end up with one of your creations so that I could contribute something to the Museum? Thanks,
Create a new document, with a transparent background (that’s what I do) Pick up the gradient tool. Change its blending mode to difference. Create a first gradient on that layer. Then create another, say, in a different direction.
Look what’s happening and, well, start from there.
Now, variations : Use the circle gradient, or the mirror. Use noise gradients instead of solid colors. Create your own, including transparency at both ends.
Hi I missed the beginning of this thread. I have been reading on this newsgroup about "Ray’s" gradients, and am interested in looking at them as well. However I could find no mention of the web page that is being referred to. Thanks for any info. Dave Smith
On Sun, 4 Jan 2004 14:18:43 -0800, wrote:
I think Ray’s #28 looks like it belongs in "Finding Nemo".
What a great deed you have done in hosting the Gradients Museum it is awesome. I think they are all wonderful and it was really hard to make a choice of what the best on is. But I do have a favourite and it is TerriFoster_11.jpg I can almost feel the texture. well done everyone and Terri you can design fabric for me any day of the year.
