6. The Tools in the Toolbox / 6.2 Tools for All Kind of Layers
6.2.12 The Mesh Gradient Tool 
The
Mesh Gradient tool is used to create and edit mesh gradient layers (see
chapter 2.3.9).
There are two ways to create a mesh gradient:
- If the active layer is a vector layer, it can be converted into a gradient
grid by clicking on the layer. However, to do this, the path of the vector
layer must have only one subpath.
- By clicking and dragging, you can create a rectangular mesh gradient.
The Tool Settings provide settings for editing an existing mesh.
You can choose between three sub-tools:
- Edit

- Edit
allows you to modify the existing grid - in the simpliest case that is
just a frame. Edit works like Edit Vector Points (see chapter 6.4.1).
- Insert Vector Points

- With
Insert Vector Points you can insert new knots, and thus extend the
grid. By holding Ctrl (Windows) or Command (macOS) you can use this
function without explicitly selecting it.
- Color Picker

- The
color picker allows you to quickly read colors from the document
and assign them to one or more nodes of the mesh.
- There are three modes:
- Clicking on an unselected node assigns the color of the document at
that location to the node.
- Clicking on a selected node assigns the color at the node locations to
all selected nodes.
- Clicking anywhere in the document assigns the clicked color to all
selected nodes. All selected nodes will have the same color afterwards.
- The color picker can also be accessed quickly by holding down the Alt
key. While it is active, the contents of the gradient mesh is hidden so that
you have access to all locations in the document.
You can also specify in the Tool Settings how the colors are interpolated
between the nodes. Linear Interpolation is faster, Cubic Interpolation
provides smoother gradients.
The Tool Settings also show the color of the active node. If the color is
changed, all selected nodes will be adjusted.