Gradient Tutorial with MS Paint

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mindscapejem

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Published on November 23, 2008 3:54:56 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1oD1UO7slc

Category:

Tutorial

Duration: 3:51

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94

I use hypercam to show how to make gradients in MS Paint, because I didn't feel like buying Photoshop or downloading GIMP.

To Create a gradient in MS Paint
Step 1: Open Paint
Step 2: Set Attributes to 125 by 125 Pixels/Points
Step 3: Choose a color and choose the line option, setting thickness of the line to whatever you want
Step 4: Make a DIAGONAL line across the white box with the line, ideally from one end to another
Step 5: Add more lines as necessary (if you want to make a two color gradient you only need one line)
Step 6: Take the fill bucket and fill in, from top to bottom/left to right/whatever, the color(s) corresponding to the line(s) you made
Step 7: Fill in the bottom/right/last area with the ending gradient color (if necessary)
Step 8: Using "Ctrl+W" or the Stretch and Skew command, with nothing selected, set the Horizontal (for horizontal lines like in my tutorial) or Vertical (for vertical lines) percentage boxes to 1 (since 1 is the lowest level setting) to create a two pixel (tall/wide) gradient
Step 9: Repeat for a one pixel (tall/wide) gradient
Step 10: You have now created your gradient

Viewing your gradient
If you want a better view of your gradient:
Step 1: Use "Ctrl+W" or Stretch and Skew command again and set the corresponding setting you used to shrink the image (i.e. Horizontal or vertical) to 500 (the maximum setting)
Step 2: Repeat Step 1 two more times to make the gradient into a 125 by 125 box image again
Step 3: For better image quality set hardware acceleration to Full and your color settings to 16 bit or higher
Step 4: Use your gradient to make better background images, or other uses which I'll probably upload next

This tool is handy to liven up backgrounds, create interesting blur or glow effects (with some effort) and other uses!

Note: Sometimes the gradients will not form if done repeatedly. To fix this, simply close MS Paint completely, and reopen it with a new file.

Enjoy!