In Photoshop, the gradient tool is one of the most useful especially when creating background, icons, buttons for the web and many other things. Today, let us have a simple step by step tutorial on how to maximize the use of this Photoshop tool. At the end of this post, you well find plenty of resources that you can download and use for free in your designs.
The gradient tool is grouped with the Pain Bucket Tool in the Tools palette usually located on the left side of the screen. And since gradient tool is not the default tool displayed in Photoshop, you have may either use the mouse or first press G and then Shift+G to alternate between the paint bucket tool (which is the default tool displayed) and the gradient tool.

HOW TO ACCESS THE GRADIENT TOOL IN THE TOOLS PALETTE:

Once the gradient tool is selected, an option bar will appear, which then offer you with options to make a new gradient, customize an existing gradient preset or upload more gradient presets to Photoshop.
THE GRADIENT TOOL OPTION BAR:

I will not deal so mush about how to customize or create a gradient. Instead, I will focus on how to install preset gradients, like for example, when you downloaded a gradient (.grd file) and would like to load it in Photoshop.
HOW TO INSTALL GRADIENTS in PHOTOSHOP?
FIRST STEP:
Put your gradients file (.grd) in the ‘Presets’ directory of your main Photoshop program folder, under the subdirectory ‘Gradients’. For example, using the default installation path for Photoshop CS3, gradients should be saved in this directory: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS3\Presets\Gradients\
SECOND STEP:
If the gradients you just saved do not show automatically in the gradient set menu, just go to the gradient editor by clicking on the preset picker (As shown in the illustration below). Once the editor opens, select “load…” and locate the directory/folder where you save your new gradients.

You are now ready to use your gradients. Now, if your gradient preset folder is empty, then maybe it is time you start downloading some nice gradients online. To help you get started, I provided links to some free Photoshop gradients that you can download and use in your projects . I also included a preview for each set so you’ll have an idea how the gradients look like before actually downloading them. I hope you’ll find something useful in this post. To download the set of gradients thatyou like, simply click on the text link found below each preview image and it will take you to a new page where you can download the .grd file that you can load later in Photoshop. Enjoy!
1) Web style gardients #5
Author: crazykira-resources
Number of gradients: 30
Description: Very useful for a nice web 2.0 style
Terms of Use: Some rights reserved. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.


[DOWNLOAD PHOTOSHOP GRADIENTS]
2) Web style gradients #9
Author: crazykira-resources
Number of gradients: 20
Description:very useful for a nice web 2.0 style
Terms of Use: Some rights reserved. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

[DOWNLOAD PHOTOSHOP GRADIENTS]
3) Apple Photoshop Gradients
Author: mppagano
Number of gradients: 54
Description:If you want to create gradients that are similar to gradients by Apple, use this set of gradients.
Terms of Use: Some rights reserved. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

[DOWNLOAD PHOTOSHOP GRADIENTS]
4) 75 Photoshop Gradients
Author: Elven Sword
Number of gradients: 75
Description: There are 4 gradients (grd) file in this set. Files in .rar are the following: ES Autumn.grd, ES Rivendell.grd, ES PinkSplash.grd, ES SeaDreams.grd.
Terms of Use: Free for both personal and commercial uses

[DOWNLOAD PHOTOSHOP GRADIENTS]
5) Web 2.0 Photoshop Gradients
Author: vebraska
Number of gradients: 55
Description: Again, use these gradients if you like to create a glossy web 2.0 effect in Photoshop.
Terms of Use: Free for both personal and commercial uses

[DOWNLOAD PHOTOSHOP GRADIENTS]
6) Rosa Photoshop Gradients
Author: Elven Sword
Number of gradients: 90
Description: I will use this set in creating a girlie-teeny look in my designs. The monochromatic look of these gradients are also useful when creating a clean and minimalist look in your design.
Terms of Use: Free for both personal and commercial uses

[DOWNLOAD PHOTOSHOP GRADIENTS]
7) Wall Photoshop Gradients
Author: Magdalena Stock
Number of gradients: 36
Description:Gradients taken from stock photos of walls, made in Photoshop 7.0. As far as I know, they DO work in other versions of photoshop. I’ve also included an image pack of 100×100 gradient images, perfect for icon making. If you take them, please credit magdalena-stock here or colortone at LJ.
Terms of Use: Free to use but you need to credit Magdalena Stock.

[DOWNLOAD PHOTOSHOP GRADIENTS]
8.) Photoshop Gradients: Blues
Author: 77 Words
Number of gradients: 45
Description:Blue is the new white. You can never go wrong by using blue in your designs. So here are blue gradients that you can use to create a 3D or glossy effect.
Terms of Use: Free to use in any way you want.

[DOWNLOAD PHOTOSHOP GRADIENTS]
9) Soft Blue Photoshop Gradients
Author: Kumquats Lair
Number of gradients: 18
Description:These gradients were created in Adobe Photoshop. You may use these gradients for making icons, wallpapers ore any other graphic designs.
Terms of Use: Free to use in any project, personal or commercial. However you need to credit the author.

[DOWNLOAD PHOTOSHOP GRADIENTS]
10) Lighten Photoshop Gradients
Author: draconis 393
Number of gradients: 20
Description: This set of gradients was created in Adobe Photoshop CS2 and would probably work best when blended in “Lighten” mode in Photoshop.
Terms of Use:Free to use in both personal and commercial projects. Please don’t forget to credit the author when using this set even if author does not require you to do so.

[DOWNLOAD PHOTOSHOP GRADIENTS]
11) Uber Glossy Photoshop Gradients
Author: Yoshi 9
Number of gradients: 24
Description: You may use these custom glossy gradients in creating aesthetically pleasing CSS menu designs, buttons, icons, etc.
Terms of Use: Some rights reserved. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

[PHOTOSHOP GRADIENTS NO LONGER AVAILABLE]
12) Underwater Photoshop Gradients
Author: mille petit
Number of gradients: 6
Description: As its name suggests, these gradients are inspired by underwater colors such as corals, grass deep sea water, etc.
Terms of Use: Free to use but you need to credit the author when using this set.

[DOWNLOAD PHOTOSHOP GRADIENTS]
13) Coffee Photoshop Gradients
Author: Elven Sword
Number of gradients: 30
Description: Strictly for Coffee lovers, this set includes 30 brown photoshop gradients for Photoshop 7 and above.
Terms of Use: Free for both personal and commercial uses. However, you are not allowed to redistribute these gradients.

[DOWNLOAD PHOTOSHOP GRADIENTS]
14) Vintage Photoshop Gradients
Author: Elven Sword
Number of gradients: 75
Description: This set would be very useful in creating vintage, paper, fire, frame, rust, text works, autumn landscape themes, etc.
Terms of Use: Free for both personal and commercial uses. However, you are not allowed to redistribute these gradients.

[DOWNLOAD PHOTOSHOP GRADIENTS]
15) In the Pink Photoshop Gradient Set
Author: kitten bella
Number of gradients: 36
Description: A set of pink shades gradients for Photoshop that includes gloss effect, metallic, sheer, transparent, and other effects. The shades range from pretty pink to bright tropical fuchsia, hot pink, ballet pink, lilac pink, barely-there pink, bubblegum, cotton candy, lipstick and barbie pink and many more.
Terms of Use: Free to use in any way you want.

[DOWNLOAD PHOTOSHOP GRADIENTS]
16) Soft Green Photoshop Gradients
Author: Kumquats Lair
Number of gradients: 20
Description: I always use green in my themes. So this set would be very useful to me. So I’m including this set in this roundup just in case you also need to put something green in your designs.
Terms of Use: Free to use but you need to credit Please credit I_harmony or Kumagorou_beam

[DOWNLOAD PHOTOSHOP GRADIENTS]
17) Skywalker Photoshop Gradients
Author: Elven Sword
Number of gradients: 35
Description: These gradients would make a very nice backgrounds to clouds or sky elements in your designs.
Terms of Use: Free for both personal and commercial uses. However, you are not allowed to redistribute these gradients.

[DOWNLOAD PHOTOSHOP GRADIENTS]
18) Glow Photoshop Gradients
Author: Baby Chanel
Number of gradients: 13
Description: If you use Paint Shop Pro, Photoshop, Photoplus, and other graphics program, you could set the gradient layer to ‘Lighten’ or ‘Screen’ to make the effect work properly.
Terms of Use: Free to use but you need to credit the author.

[DOWNLOAD PHOTOSHOP GRADIENTS]
19) 24 Random Photoshop Gradients
Author: Graphic Dump
Number of gradients: 24
Description: This set includes 24 random but very nice glossy gradients. The downloadable zipped file includes both the image pack and the gradient (grd) file.
Terms of Use: Free for both personal and commercial uses.

[DOWNLOAD PHOTOSHOP GRADIENTS]
20) Black+Color Photoshop Gradients
Author: Freaky-x
Number of gradients: 20
Description:This set includes some simple black and color gradients. Maybe some of you could use them in your work.
Terms of Use: Free to use in both personal and commercial projects.

[DOWNLOAD PHOTOSHOP GRADIENTS]

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