Creative Tip: Transparent Gradients in Illustrator.
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Update: Illustrator CS4 now adds easy transparent gradients! We have a video showing the new Illustrator CS4 Gradient Annotator in action. If you are using an older version of Illustrator, read on for the tip below.
Here is a great question we recently fielded from an in-house designer at Pixar in California: “How do I fill an object in Adobe Illustrator with a gradient that goes from an opaque solid color at one end to transparent at the other end?”
Creating a gradient with transparency is so easy in Photoshop, you might assume the same would be true for Illustrator. However the process is somewhat more involved.
The answer involves using a special Opacity Mask to add a transparent gradient to your object. Once you understand how to use Opacity Masks in Illustrator CS and CS2, the effect is easy to reproduce.
Step 1: Create an object with a solid fill.
Use the color that you want to use in your future gradient. In this example we’ve drawn an orange rectangle with rounded edges.
Step 2: Duplicate the object, and fill with a gradient.
The easiest way to create a duplicate of your object exactly on top of itself is to copy it and then paste in front. There will now be two identical objects layered on top of each other.
Mac Shortcut: Command-C, then Command-F
Win Shortcut: Control-C, then Control-F
Now, apply a gradient to the top object using Illustrator’s Gradient palette (Window > Gradient). The black areas of your gradient will soon become transparent.
Your screen should now look something like this:
Step 3: Create an Opacity Mask.
Finally, select both objects and choose Make Opacity Mask from the fly-out menu in Illustrator’s Transparency palette (Window > Transparency).
Tip: If the top object is still selected, you can choose Select > Next Object Below to select the bottom item. Then hold down shift and reselect the top item as well.
Illustrator combines the two objects, using the top shape (the one with the gradient) as an opacity mask for the bottom one (your solid color). Leaving you with this result:
If you look back in the Transparency palette, you’ll see a new opacity thumbnail appears to the right of your selected shape.
Step 4: Test the results!
Finally, you can test the opacity by drawing a solid box underneath your shape.
Bonus Technique One: Adjust the transparency later.
If you later find you want to adjust the opacity of your gradient, simply select the opacity mask icon in Illustrator’s Transparency palette.
Select your object (you’ll now be selecting the mask version with the gradient). And change the gradient settings in Illustrator’s Gradient palette.
Bonus Technique Two: Multi-color Gradients w/ Transparency.
Once you have this basic technique down, you can create much more complex gradients. In the example below, we’ve selected our main shape (the original orange one) and filled it with a multi-color gradient from left to right. Then we switched into our opacity mask and adjusted the overall transparency gradient of our image to go up and down.
Enjoy.
Source: Turns out our Pixar designer got our name off the Adobe website where our tips newsletter is featured in both the Illustrator Design Center and the InDesign Design Center resource links under "Blogs and Podcasts." Cool.
November 2nd, 2006 at 12:56 am
Thanks! I kept having that very problem … though it never came to mind to search the fly-out menu.
I like that kind of mask concept because of its great flexibility. A similar example is the trimming mask feature – though IMHO also quite well hidden …
November 5th, 2006 at 7:06 pm
Finally, I know how to do this! This was an awesome tip!! Claudio, how does the trimming mask feature work…I’ve never used it?
November 20th, 2006 at 10:43 am
this is just awesome. several times i’ve changed my design because i didn’t know how solve this
thanx so very much!
December 6th, 2006 at 2:26 pm
Great tip, been searching for it all day.
January 15th, 2007 at 11:16 pm
I also use black or white in a gradient where I want the transparency (e.g. the example above would be orange to white or black) and then set the layer blend to Screen or Mulltiply accordingly.
January 22nd, 2007 at 2:45 am
I‘m Having a serious problem with gradients in Adobe Illustrator CS. The steps keep apearing all the time. I‘ve tried to do the gradients with diferent techniques but nothing seams to work. I really need some tips.
Thank‘s
February 1st, 2007 at 8:33 pm
remember to reclick on the top layer after selecting the bottom layer, before applying opacity mask. that’where i was always going wrong.
February 8th, 2007 at 9:03 am
Stunning!!
After seven years of using illustrator and all is revealed. What a tip! My life is complete.
February 28th, 2007 at 6:49 am
It really saved me a lot of time! So thanks!
December 2nd, 2008 at 1:53 am
Thanks for sharing this solution. I couln’t find any way of doing this and it has left me feeling blank for a long time now. The feature is kind of hidden but…
December 2nd, 2008 at 10:13 am
Great information and great tutorial. I just wish Adobe made it easy like Photoshop. It’s vastly more intuitive. Heck, Flash can do it! Ca’ mon’, Adobe, I expect better.
December 15th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
Another thing that wasn’t mentioned here, but I had to figure out on my own. If you want to do that reflective text look that’s been going around, you have to first make the reflected text into Outlines, and THEN select both the outlines and the colored (usually black or white) box on top and make the opacity mask.
December 18th, 2008 at 8:34 am
I am a graphic designer. Transparent Gradients in Illustrator is realy helpful for me
January 5th, 2009 at 9:52 pm
Oh…… Thanks a lot…. Im finding this since long time. you learn me this in one second. Thank you so …. much…
January 14th, 2009 at 5:39 am
I set up a file that was to be printed in one color (yellow) onto a dark colored t-shirt. There was a gradient in it that went from 100% yellow to white because I didn’t yet know how to make the gradient go from yellow to transparent. They said it didn’t work. That it “turned white”. Since they were only printing one color yellow shouldn’t it have just printed the yellow and the white wouldn’t have been a problem ? Would this opacity mask you’re talking about have worked with this file for a one color print on a t-shirt. I know some of these “tricks” that achieve what you want on screen don’t always translate well in printing.
January 20th, 2009 at 9:02 am
Thanks, very helpful.
January 22nd, 2009 at 1:47 pm
This is probably a stupid question, but how do you save this as a gif? When I go to save for web, all it show is the gradient fill.
January 24th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
[...] do this in photoshop but this was an Illustrator document. So I googled it and found a way to do it here. I had to read it a few times to understand it but still after 4 tries I got the logo to fade to [...]
January 25th, 2009 at 12:11 am
[...] 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 [...]
January 26th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
[...] 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 [...]
April 17th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
In my Illustrator CS3, when i use a simple gradient between 2 colors there appears to be a strange gray cloud where the colors should cleanly merge. In my AI 9.0 neer had a problem. Is this just me or has anyone else noticed this? I have adjusted the color stops as well as the threshold point in the middle…Very strange and frustrating.
April 29th, 2009 at 8:07 am
Joanne, in order to get gradients printed properly, you must Flatter them. This combined all layers concerned to make one object that is printer friendly.
May 23rd, 2009 at 6:46 am
Awesome and more awesome way for transparent gradient.
Thanks.
June 22nd, 2009 at 6:52 am
Not to sound negative, but why would a designer at Pixar not know how to do this? This is a pretty basic technique in Photoshop. Masking is used by intermediate to high-end designers constantly. However, this is a great tip if you’re learning how to mask…very applicable to real-world use.
Good job!
June 22nd, 2009 at 7:10 am
Robert, you said that “this is a pretty basic technique in Photoshop” — Yes it is. Masking is pretty straight forward in Photoshop. But it was certainly not basic in Illustrator CS3 or earlier, which is what this tip was about.
Now, if you have Illustrator CS4, Adobe has made transparent gradients MUCH easier. This video covers those new features:
http://creativetechs.com/tipsblog/illustrator-cs4-gradient-annotator/
June 25th, 2009 at 5:27 am
I have the same problem as Brad Webster explained… “Strange gray area” between black and any color… :,( Anyone? Please? Pretty please?