Operation Manual

Fill, Lines, Colours, and Transparency 161
Each gradient fill type has a characteristic path. For example, Radial fills have
single-line paths, with the gradient initially starting at the object's centre. Elliptical
fills likewise begin at the centre, but their paths have two lines so you can adjust the
fill's extent in two directions away from the centre. Radial fills are always evenly
circular, while Elliptical fills can be skewed in one direction or another.
Radial Fill Elliptical Fill
Experiment to discover new effects! For example,
you can widen or narrow the gradient’s extent, even
drag either node completely outside the object. Or,
for a Radial fill on a round shape, try placing the
start node near the figure’s upper edge, off-centre,
to create a reflection highlight.
For details of how to edit and manage gradient fills, see DrawPlus Help.
Editing the fill spectrum
Whether you're editing a fill that's been already been applied to an object, or
redefining one of the gallery fills, the basic concepts are the same. Whereas solid
fills use a single colour, all gradient fills utilize at least two "key" colours, with a
spread of hues in between each key colour, creating a "spectrum" effect.
You can either edit the fill spectrum directly using the Fill Tool or use
Format>Fill (to access the Gradient Fill Editor dialog). With the Fill Tool
selected, colours can be selected from the Studio's Colour or Swatch tab to
replace a selected node's colour, or dragged from the Swatch tab to create new
nodes on the fill path). Both methods let you define key colours. The Fill Tool
method is more convenient for this, but with the dialog you can also fine-tune
the actual spread of colour between pairs of key colours.