Linear gradient and dithering
Drag a gradient across a sky or another area that needs a color transition. Bayer dithering uses a pattern of your two endpoint colors; None adds intermediate colors. The gradient is painted pixels, so put it on its own layer if you expect to replace it later.
Draw a gradient
Section titled “Draw a gradient”- Select the layer you want to paint. No selection is needed to fill a closed region.
- Choose foreground and background colors. Palette left-click sets foreground; right-click sets background.
- Press Shift+G, or select Linear gradient in the Fill context selector.
- Choose Scope, Dithering and Opacity in the context bar.
- Drag from the foreground end toward the background end. The preview updates while you drag; release to apply it as one undoable edit.
Choose the area
Section titled “Choose the area”Contiguous area is the default at startup. Start dragging inside the region you want to fill. Pixelithra detects connected matching pixels from the original artwork once, at the drag’s starting point; moving outside the region does not expand the filled area.
Use Tolerance, Include diagonals and Visible layers as with solid Fill. These values are shared with Fill. Turn on Visible layers to use outlines on other visible layers; otherwise the active layer supplies the boundaries, including rendered Paths. Contiguous area always uses connected pixels.
Entire surface applies the gradient over the document surface on the active layer, without detecting a connected region. It paints over existing artwork: at 100% opacity with opaque colors, it covers outlines too. It does not mean filling only the background behind your drawing.
An active selection takes priority over both scopes, including selections with disconnected parts. It directly defines the painted area and remains unchanged. Scope and region controls are disabled while a selection is active.
In either scope, your drag defines direction and length. Pixels beyond the two ends use the corresponding endpoint color.
Hold Shift to constrain the angle to 45-degree steps. Right-drag reverses the two colors. Press Escape during a drag to cancel. Switching to pan or losing window focus also cancels the preview. A click without a drag does not paint.
Choose dithering
Section titled “Choose dithering”| Setting | Result |
|---|---|
| None | Smooth transition with intermediate RGBA colors. |
| Bayer 2×2 | Ordered two-color pattern with a small repeating matrix. |
| Bayer 4×4 | Ordered two-color pattern with more coverage levels. |
| Bayer 8×8 | Ordered two-color pattern with the most coverage levels. |
Bayer uses only your two endpoint colors before tool opacity and layer blending. The pattern stays aligned to document pixels as you zoom or change direction. Opacity blends the result over existing pixels. Endpoint transparency is respected.
Layers, undo, and saving
Section titled “Layers, undo, and saving”Hidden or locked layers cannot be painted. A smaller raster layer expands when necessary, preserving its existing off-canvas pixels. On a Paths layer or Folder, Pixelithra creates a compatible Pixels layer when you apply the gradient; your editable paths and live fills remain intact.
The applied gradient is raster content; it has no editable handles after release. Use Ctrl+Z to undo it.
Press G to return to solid Fill. Gradient opacity and dithering remain independent of the shared region controls. Radial gradients and multi-stop gradient editing are not supported.