Gradient

Overview

Creates a two-color linear or radial gradient image. In addition to serving as a base for skies and backgrounds, it is a fundamental continuous-value map—"top to bottom" or "center outward"—for mask weights, height maps, dither input, and more.

Usage tips

• For a pixel-art sky, Linear (vertical) → dither (2–4-color palette) is the go-to two-node setup.
• In black and white, it is a versatile weight map: a soft mask for blend_by_mask, a Multiply asset that darkens toward the bottom, or a radial vignette.
• A radial gradient with a small radius is a base for a spotlight. center_x/y use relative coordinates from 0 to 1.
• For a multicolor gradient, create grayscale values here and pass a palette to gradient_map instead. This also makes the color count easier to manage.

Common pitfalls

• Banding is distracting: the continuous gradient itself is smooth; bands appear after quantizing and may be the right pixel-art result. Use dither when smoothness should be preserved.
• A diagonal gradient points in an unexpected direction: the fastest solution is to rotate angle while watching its angle knob.

Notes

• With mode = Linear, the two colors are interpolated along angle in image pixel space, so the specified angle matches the on-screen direction even on a non-square canvas.
• With mode = Radial, the two colors are interpolated outward from center_x / center_y over radius.
• radius = 1.0 is based on half the shorter dimension.
• color_a and color_b can be set as parameters or input ports. Input ports take priority.

Compatibility

• v2 evaluates Linear angles in pixel space instead of UV space. Diagonal gradients on non-square canvases therefore look different from v1.

Examples

1. Create a horizontal background gradient.
2. Use a radial gradient as the base for a mask or coordinate map.
3. Feed it into Palette Quantize or Dither to create retro color steps.

Related nodes

• gradient_map — color with a multicolor ramp
• dither — the companion for a retro sky
• noise_generate — a nonuniform continuous-value map
• blend — overlay a light/dark gradient in Multiply mode