Creative Tip: Illustrator CS4 – Gradient Annotator.
One of our most visited tips over the years is how to make Transparent Gradients in Illustrator CS3. Well, in Illustrator CS4, gradients and transparency have both become MUCH easier with the new Gradient Annotator. We pulled this video clip from our webinar archives. This 3-minute clip is from a fun “What’s New in CS4″ workshop that Jason Hoppe led back in October 2008.
February 20th, 2009 at 8:31 am
Interesting to see Adobe only gets this right now.
Although I never use it, Corel Draw has had these gradient options for years. It has always been superior. With the annotator, and even gradient to transparency. I was already wondering when Adobe would improve their gradient tool to match that of Corel.
March 2nd, 2009 at 1:36 pm
I don’t want to get into an argument over which illustration program is superior. This feature was also available in the drawing panel of Flash when it was owned by Macromedia. I always thought the ability to adjust your gradient after applying it made editing so simple. It is about time Illustrator incorporated these tools. I wonder if this has to do with the acquisition of Flash by Adobe?
March 5th, 2009 at 5:31 pm
it’s about frickin time…. thanks for the video.
May 4th, 2009 at 11:49 pm
Though it’s nice to finally have transparency gradient in Illustrator – they’re still MUCH more difficult than they need to be. They really need to just take the Photoshop model and put it in Illustrator – except obviously, make it vector and editable. Why two completely different interfaces for the exact same tool is beyond me.
December 23rd, 2009 at 9:57 am
It’s still not possible to select a gradient colour from the colour picker: you have to use swatches or the RGB sliders. What a drag, Adobe!
Very useful video though. Thanks!
May 25th, 2010 at 5:02 am
GREAT vid! Thanks much!