Photoshop Backgrounds with the Gradient Tool

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The Gradient Tool is a gem when it comes to making Photoshop backgrounds. The basic way to use the Gradient Tool is to choose colours, pick one of the Gradient options from the options bar and drag the cursor over the image.

Much more than that can be done, however. With the help of a second layer and a change of Modes, the results can be striking and quick.

Here are a few examples and then it becomes a case of playing around further.

Example 1

Make a square file 1800px x 1800px @ 300ppi.

In the toolbox, have a red as the foregrond colour and some sort of green as the background colour.
Press G for the Gradient Tool.
In the top options bar, choose the Radial Gradient.
Position the cursor off-centre and
drag it to the edge of the image.

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In the Layers palette, create a new layer.
Change the toolbox colours to a white foreground and a blue background.
Position the cursor off-centre on another part of the image and drag it to the edge.
In the Layers palette, change the mode of the top layer to Vivid Light.

Example 2

Make a square file 1800px x 1800px @ 300ppi.

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Press G for the Gradient Tool.
In the top options bar, click on the Gradient Editor.
From the Presets, choose the Steel Blue square. If it is not there, click on the small arrow at the top of the dialogue box, drop down to Metals and click on Append.
In the options bar choose the Radial Gradient.
Drag the cursor from the centre out to one of the corners.

Create a new layer.
Choose the Angle Gradient and once again drag the cursor from centre out to a corner.
In the Layers palette set the mode of the top layer to Difference.

Example 3

For this one, use the Spectrum colours from the Gradient Editor.
If it is not among the Presets, load up the Spectrums from the pop-up menu.
With the Angle Gradient, draw from the centre out to a corner.

It can look good like this, but open Levels with Ctrl + L / Cmd + L.
Pull the Highlight and Shadow triangles close into the middle to boost the contrast.

Example 4

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Choose one of the multi-coloured gradients from the Gradient Editor.
Using the Reflected Gradient, draw from the centre down to the bottom.
Go to Filter > Distort > Wave and play around with the Wave filter.

Here are some examples which were all produced with variations of the above methods, using different forms of Gradient.

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