Help please!

Writing freelance in a woodwork magazine, I am trying to render a tracing of
a toilet mirror, wanting to create a smooth diagonal gradient from white to
grey, (as one does to a photo when wishing to remove unwanted reflections)
but trial prints show a fan-like effect with the transitions between tones
being very evident.

Could an experienced  PSP 8er kindly tell me how to do better than this
please?

I recall being able to do this with a simple drag in Photoshop 5 Lite and
Elements 1, but don't want to have to re-load Elements and mess about
between two applications  if I can possibly avoid it.

I have it set up so that image information reports 24/16million colours at
300ppi.

Jeff
--
Jeff Gorman, West Yorkshire, UK
Email: username is amgron
ISP is clara.co.uk
www.amgron.clara.net

Jeff Gorman wrote:
>
> Help please!
>
> Writing freelance in a woodwork magazine, I am trying to render a tracing 
of
> a toilet mirror, wanting to create a smooth diagonal gradient from white t
o
> grey, (as one does to a photo when wishing to remove unwanted reflections)
> but trial prints show a fan-like effect with the transitions between tones
> being very evident.
>
> Could an experienced  PSP 8er kindly tell me how to do better than this
> please?

The bottom line is, I think, that you are saying your
gradient has visible steps. There are typically two reasons
for this. The first is that, in Windows Display Properties,
your display is set to 16-bit High Color and not 24-bit or
32-bit True Color. Since there are fewer discrete colors
with a 16-bit representation, your gradient will have steps.
The second reason for problems is that your gradient has
very few color gradations and covers a large number of
pixels. As an extreme example, imagine a grey gradient
ranging from 128 to 130 spanning a 300 pixel wide image.
On the very left the color will be grey 128 and on on the
very right it will be 130. In the middle of the image it
will be 129. Since there are no greys between 128 and 129
or between 129 and 130, there will be a step at pixel 100
between a region filled with grey 128 and grey 129 and a
second step at pixel 200 between a region filled with
grey 129 and grey 130. Your actual situation is unlikely
to be as extreme as this but it could be fundamentally
similar. The way to deal with this is threefold: (1) make
the gradient span a larger range of color; (2) make the
gradient span a smaller number of pixels (which makes any
steps narrow and hard to see); and/or (3) add a little
monochrome noise (a few percent) to the steps to disguise
them and make them much less visible.

> I recall being able to do this with a simple drag in Photoshop 5 Lite and
> Elements 1, but don't want to have to re-load Elements and mess about
> between two applications  if I can possibly avoid it.

It has nothing to do with what tool you use to create the
gradient. The issue is either your display setup or the
characteristics of the gradient.

> I have it set up so that image information reports 24/16million colours at
> 300ppi.

That's fine. The resolution is irrelevant since it only
affects how the width in pixels of your image is mapped to
a width in inches when you print the image. What matters
is how many pixels there are in the image. The more you
have and the smaller the color range in the gradient, the
more likely are visible steps. Moreover, just because the
image is in 24-bit color does not mean that your display
is set to show all those colors. If it isn't then you
will see steps too.

> Jeff
> --
> Jeff Gorman, West Yorkshire, UK
> Email: username is amgron
> ISP is clara.co.uk
> www.amgron.clara.net

"Jeff Gorman" <seethesig> wrote in message
news:1095699387.24252.0@nnrp-t71-02.news.clara.net...
> Help please!
>
> Writing freelance in a woodwork magazine, I am trying to render a tracing
> of
> a toilet mirror, wanting to create a smooth diagonal gradient from white
> to
> grey, (as one does to a photo when wishing to remove unwanted reflections)
> but trial prints show a fan-like effect with the transitions between tones
> being very evident.

More detail would help like are you trying to flood fill the gradient into
an already filled surface? If so the Match Mode and Tolerance setting on the
Flood Fill tool become very important. I suspect this is what is happening.
Change Match Mode to 'None' and move Tolerance up so the whole area gets
filled not just some areas matching certain pixel criteria.

If you are dragging out the shape and using a gradient as the fill colour
for that shape then make sure the Background and Fill Colour box is set to
Gradient in the Materials palette then click in the gradient box to access
the Gradients tab of the Materials dialog. Set 'Repeats' to 0, decide on
your Angle value needed, and pick Linear as the gradient 'Style'. Although
there are some preset gradients that do black to white you'll get the most
control over the resulting blend of neutrals if you select 'Foreground and
Background' as the gradient type (or any of the ones that fade the
Foreground colour into the Background colour or visa versa). After closing
the dialog set the Background Colour (in the Materials palette) to the shade
of grey you want to blend with white and set the Foreground Colour to white,
then set the Foreground and Stroke box to Transparent (None). Drag out your
shape.

If you are not dragging out the shape but rather filling an already existing
transparent area then do the above only remember to 'right mouse click' to
use the Background and Fill Colour box, or click the Swap colour arrow to
place the gradient in the Foreground and Stroke Colour box and 'left' click
to fill.

Take care,
Linda

"Jeff Gorman" <seethesig> wrote in message
news:1095699387.24252.0@nnrp-t71-02.news.clara.net...
> Help please!
>
> Writing freelance in a woodwork magazine, I am trying to render a tracing
> of
> a toilet mirror, wanting to create a smooth diagonal gradient from white
> to
> grey, (as one does to a photo when wishing to remove unwanted reflections)
> but trial prints show a fan-like effect with the transitions between tones
> being very evident.
>
> Could an experienced  PSP 8er kindly tell me how to do better than this
> please?
>
> I recall being able to do this with a simple drag in Photoshop 5 Lite and
> Elements 1, but don't want to have to re-load Elements and mess about
> between two applications  if I can possibly avoid it.
>
> I have it set up so that image information reports 24/16million colours at
> 300ppi.

More detail would help like are you trying to flood fill the gradient into
an already filled surface? If so the Match Mode and Tolerance setting on the
Flood Fill tool become very important. I suspect this is what is happening.
Change Match Mode to 'None' and move Tolerance up so the whole area gets
filled not just some areas matching certain pixel criteria.

If you are dragging out the shape and using a gradient as the fill colour
for that shape then make sure the Background and Fill Colour box is set to
Gradient in the Materials palette then click in the gradient box to access
the Gradients tab of the Materials dialog. Set 'Repeats' to 0, decide on
your Angle value needed, and pick Linear as the gradient 'Style'. Although
there are some preset gradients that do black to white you'll get the most
control over the resulting blend of neutrals if you select 'Foreground and
Background' as the gradient type (or any of the ones that fade the
Foreground colour into the Background colour or visa versa). After closing
the dialog set the Background Colour (in the Materials palette) to the shade
of grey you want to blend with white and set the Foreground Colour to white,
then set the Foreground and Stroke box to Transparent (None). Drag out your
shape.

If you are not dragging out the shape but rather filling an already existing
transparent area then do the above only remember to 'right mouse click' to
use the Background and Fill Colour box, or click the Swap colour arrow to
place the gradient in the Foreground and Stroke Colour box and 'left' click
to fill.

Take care,
Linda