Variation 5: Text with gradients.
Gradients create a seamless gradual blend between multiple colors. Photoshop version 7 supports five different styles of gradients: linear, radial, angle, reflected, and diamond.

Gimp version 2 supports seven different styles of gradients: linear, bi-linear (reflected), radial, square (Photoshop diamond), conical (Photoshop angle), shaped (including angular, spherical, or dimpled), and spiral (clockwise an counterclockwise direction).

Gradients can be used as the color of the text surface or as a background. The following illustrations show different color blending patterns achieved with each gradient style.

1. Linear. Pixels on each line perpendicular to the direction of the gradient have the same opacity or transparency. This is the simplest style of gradient which is commonly used to blend from one primary color to another.

Instructions: To see the linear gradient in action, click on either one of the following eyedropper tool to choose your gradient color. To choose an arbitrary direction of the gradient, click and drag the needle pin on the wheel guide to select the gradient angle measured from the 3 o'clock position.
Gimp supports three different methods to repeat a gradient fill: none, sawtooth (abrupt change between alternate blending colors), and triangle (gradual change between alternate blending colors). This option creates infinite design possibilities.

An optional visual guide can be selected to show the starting and ending position of the gradient fill pattern. The gradient fill pattern starts from the center of the circle and ends at the pinhead of the needle.

Linear gradients also work great on multi-colored gradients. The list box shown below contains eight multi-colored gradients that you can find either in Photoshop or Gimp or readily available elsewhere on the Internet.

	Built-in
Guide

2. Radial. Pixels on each concentric circle have the same opacity or transparency. The center of the circle can be completely opaque or transparent depending upon the direction of the gradient. The gradient direction is going toward the center of the circle or going out from the center. Radial gradient does not use the angle direction since this parameter does not make sense in this case.

Radial gradient fill can repeat with different modes similar to the linear gradient. However, the visual result looks very different depending upon the choice of blending colors.

	Built-in
Guide

Linear and reflected gradients are most appropriate and effective for text objects. The designer may optionally define an aribitrary angle to control the direction of the gradient. Simple two-toned designs can be quickly accomplished with the linear gradient. The following illustrations show a text string in different gradient settings.