Gradient Fill Tool in Affinity Designer

In this tutorial we will take you through the steps for using the Affinity Designer gradient Fill Tool. Gradients are the smooth transition from one color to the next. Adding a gradient is a fairly quick process that can create more depth to your designs. Gradients are used across a variety of projects such as text, shading, web design and much more.



While you can make your own gradients, we do have a selection of gradient backgrounds ready for use.

Step 1 - Create a Basic Design

We will begin by creating a new document for our tutorial. Once your new document is ready, go to the left side panel and click on the Shapes Tool. We selected the Cloud Tool for this tutorial.

Click + drag out the shape and fill with a color using the Color panel on the right side. You can also click on the Fill color box on the top toolbar.

Step 2 - Use the Gradient Fill Tool

To add a gradient fill, you need to go to the left side toolbar and click on the Fill Tool. At the top toolbar you will see some options become available.

Select the Type of Gradient

Next to the Type option in the top toolbar, click on the drop down menu and select Linear. Starting from one side of the design, click + drag a line across your design to create the gradient.

Change the Gradient Color

You can change the color of the gradient by clicking on one of the color stops. Then click on the Color panel on the right to pick a color.

Do this for the second color stop to change to another color.

Adjust the Gradient Transition

The gradient transition can be adjusted so the colors create a gentle or hard transition. You will find a small transition line in the middle of the gradient. Moving this in either direction will determine how evenly and smoothly the colors transition.

Add More Color Stops

You can add more color stops to the gradient fill. Simply place your cursor over the line and it will turn into an arrow with a small plus. Now click to add a new color stop. The colors can be changed as before and the transition lines between each one adjusted.

Reposition the Gradient Angle

The gradient angle can be repositioned and placed where you want. To do this, place your cursor over one of the end color stops, it will change into directional arrows. Now click + drag that end point to where you want. Do the same for the other end point. This is how we can shape the gradient to fit the design.

Edit the Opacity and Noise

The opacity of the gradient can be adjusted to make it more transparent. You can find the Opacity under the Color panel on the right hand side. Click on one of the color stops, then move the Opacity slider to the right to make that area more transparent.

If you want to increase the noise, place your cursor over the circle under the word Opacity. A small notification will say “Switch to Noise”. Once you have clicked on this circle, you can then move the slider to adjust the noise. To go back to Opacity, simply click on the circle again.

Step 3 - Add a Gradient to the Stroke

Not only can you add a gradient to your design, you can also apply a gradient to the stroke. In order to do this, you first need to increase the width of your stroke. Go to the Stroke panel on the right hand side then adjust the Width slider.

If you want to change the color, go to the top toolbar and click on the Stroke color box. If you find that nothing changes when choosing a color, make sure that the Saturation (S) slider is set to 100.

Go back and click on the Fill Tool again to activate the gradient option. Then on the top toolbar click on the Context drop down menu and select Stroke.

Click + drag out the gradient over your design and it will automatically add a Linear gradient to your Stroke. You can edit the gradient stroke the same way you edited the gradient fill.

There are many more options available in Affinity Designer when adding a gradient. These include creating an Elliptical and Conical gradient as well as adding a bitmap. If you would like to learn more, we have a great in-depth tutorial on creating a gradient in Affinity Designer.