Fill Tool

Linda Cole

Select the Fill Tool from the Tool Palette and press the Tab key to open the Fill Tool Control Palette. Press the Tool Controls tab to bring it to the front.

The Fill Tool is used to fill the canvas or selected area with one click of a button. Several options are available including a Solid Color, Linear, Rectangular, Sunburst, or Radial Gradient or even a Pattern.

Fill can be applied to both selections and layers. The Fill Tool doesn't have an antialias option, but antialias may be applied with the Selection Tool and the Lasso Tool prior to using the Fill Tool. (The Magic Wand does not have an antialias option).

Tolerance and opacity settings can be adjusted to produce various effects. In the example, all ellipses were drawn on top of the rectangle. Note how the tolerance setting of 50 'stopped' the color from filling areas of drastic color change, ie. the whiter areas from the blue.

Each fill option has additional Blend Mode options, giving even greater control over the end results. Each oval in the example to the left was a red/blue linear gradient, with a tolerance and opacity of 100. The only difference in them was the blend mode setting.

Linear Gradient Fill

The Linear Gradient fills the selection or canvas with a gradation of the two active colors. The direction of the grade may be set in the Flood Fill Options Palette. It is not necessary to select the Flood Fill Style prior to opening the Options Palette; the Flood Fill Style may be changed from within the Options Palette.

The direction of your gradient can be set by clicking anywhere in the circle, dragging the control needle or typing the degrees in the Degree text box.

Non-linear Gradient Fills:

Rectangular, Sunburst & Radial

The Non-linear Gradient Fills require that you set the gradient's point of origin or the point from which the gradient will radiate. The active foreground color is painted as the point of origin with the colors blending outward to the active background color.

Point of origin is set by using the Vertical/Horizontal sliders or by typing the percentages into the Vertical and Horizontal text boxes.

Pattern Fill

To use the Pattern Fill you will first need to open the image you plan to use as your pattern. A part of an image can be used as the Pattern by selecting the area in the Source image. Second you must select the area on the target image that you want the pattern to fill. All set? Then select the Fill Tool and open up the Control Box by pressing "O" on your keyboard. Select a Fill Style of Pattern and click the Options button. Note in the Options dialog box the Fill Style is already set to Pattern. You may change the Blend Modes as you desire, but for this example I left it set to Normal. Select your New pattern source from the drop down menu. (You ~do~ remember the name of your pattern image... don't you? If not, move some windows around until you can see it). Once you have selected your pattern source, the image will appear in the preview box. You must click OK to close the Flood Fill Options dialog box for the Flood Fill tool to work. It is not necessary to close the Controls dialog box.