Photoshop Tutorial: Applying Effects in a Gradient
In this Photoshop tutorial, you’ll learn how to apply effects inside of a gradient. It’s a cool tip that creates a unique and stylized look to your work. It has valuable applications in all aspects of graphic design and web design.
Examples of Photoshop effects applied in a gradient
These two photos change to black and white with a progressive gradient.
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These faces change to a vibrant color boost as the gradient progresses upward.
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These landscape photos have four different effects applied to them.
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Step-by-Step Tutorial
Begin with a photo of your choice.
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Create a new alpha channel and draw a black and white gradient of your choice.
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Make a selection of the gradient. Command-click on the layer icon.
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Click on the RGB channel at the top. This will also deselect the new channel you just made.
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Return to the Layers panel
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Now you’re ready to apply a wide variety of effects and filters to your photo. The cool thing is that the effect or filter will apply only where the gradient covers your photo.
The first effect I chose to demonstrate was the color halftone.
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Here are the results. It progressively applies the color halftone from the lower-left upward toward the top right. It gradually dissipates as it nears the end of the gradient.
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In the next example, I applied a Gaussian blur effect.
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And here’s a lesser-used effect, the oil paint style.
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And here’s a cool use of this technique, I’ve applied an adjustment layer with the Black & White effect. It follows the gradient and changes the color photo to black and white.
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