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Print gradients, meshes, and color blends

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  1. Illustrator User Guide
  2. Get to know Illustrator
    1. Introduction to Illustrator
      1. What's new in Illustrator
      2. Common questions
      3. Illustrator system requirements
      4. Illustrator for Apple silicon
    2. Workspace
      1. Workspace basics
      2. Learn faster with the Illustrator Discover panel
      3. Create documents
      4. Toolbar
      5. Default keyboard shortcuts
      6. Customize keyboard shortcuts
      7. Introduction to artboards
      8. Manage artboards
      9. Customize the workspace
      10. Properties panel
      11. Set preferences
      12. Touch Workspace
      13. Microsoft Surface Dial support in Illustrator
      14. Undo edits and manage design history
      15. Rotate view
      16. Rulers, grids, and guides
      17. Accessibility in Illustrator
      18. Safe Mode
      19. View artwork
      20. Use the Touch Bar with Illustrator
      21. Files and templates
    3. Tools in Illustrator
      1. Tools at a glance
      2. Select tools
        1. Selection
        2. Direct Selection
        3. Group Selection
        4. Magic Wand
        5. Lasso
        6. Artboard
      3. Navigate tools
        1. Hand
        2. Rotate View
        3. Zoom
      4. Paint tools
        1. Gradient
        2. Mesh
        3. Shape Builder
      5. Text tools
        1. Type
        2. Type on a Path
        3. Vertical Type
      6. Draw tools
        1. Pen
        2. Add Anchor Point
        3. Delete Anchor Point
        4. Anchor Point
        5. Curvature
        6. Line Segment
        7. Rectangle
        8. Rounded Rectangle
        9. Ellipse
        10. Polygon
        11. Star
        12. Paintbrush
        13. Blob Brush
        14. Pencil
        15. Shaper
        16. Slice
      7. Modify tools
        1. Rotate
        2. Reflect
        3. Scale
        4. Shear
        5. Width
        6. Free Transform
        7. Eyedropper
        8. Blend
        9. Eraser
        10. Scissors
    4. Quick actions
      1. Retro text
      2. Neon glow text
      3. Old school text
      4. Recolor
      5. Convert sketch to vector
  3. Illustrator on the iPad
    1. Introduction to Illustrator on the iPad
      1. Illustrator on the iPad overview
      2. Illustrator on the iPad FAQs
      3. System requirements | Illustrator on the iPad
      4. What you can or cannot do on Illustrator on the iPad
    2. Workspace
      1. Illustrator on the iPad workspace
      2. Touch shortcuts and gestures
      3. Keyboard shortcuts for Illustrator on the iPad
      4. Manage your app settings
    3. Documents
      1. Work with documents in Illustrator on the iPad
      2. Import Photoshop and Fresco documents
    4. Select and arrange objects
      1. Create repeat objects
      2. Blend objects
    5. Drawing
      1. Draw and edit paths
      2. Draw and edit shapes
    6. Type
      1. Work with type and fonts
      2. Create text designs along a path
      3. Add your own fonts
    7. Work with images
      1. Vectorize raster images
    8. Color
      1. Apply colors and gradients
  4. Cloud documents
    1. Basics
      1. Work with Illustrator cloud documents
      2. Share and collaborate on Illustrator cloud documents
      3. Share documents for review
      4. Upgrade cloud storage for Adobe Illustrator
      5. Illustrator cloud documents | Common questions
    2. Troubleshooting
      1. Troubleshoot create or save issues for Illustrator cloud documents
      2. Troubleshoot Illustrator cloud documents issues
  5. Add and edit content
    1. Drawing
      1. Drawing basics
      2. Edit paths
      3. Draw pixel-perfect art
      4. Draw with the Pen, Curvature, or Pencil tool
      5. Draw simple lines and shapes
      6. Image Trace
      7. Simplify a path
      8. Define perspective grids
      9. Symbolism tools and symbol sets
      10. Adjust path segments
      11. Design a flower in 5 easy steps
      12. Perspective drawing
      13. Symbols
      14. Draw pixel-aligned paths for web workflows
    2. 3D objects and materials
      1. About 3D effects in Illustrator
      2. Create 3D graphics
      3. Map artwork over 3D objects
      4. Create 3D Text
    3. Color
      1. About color
      2. Select colors
      3. Use and create swatches
      4. Adjust colors
      5. Use the Adobe Color Themes panel
      6. Color groups (harmonies)
      7. Color Themes panel
      8. Recolor your artwork
    4. Painting
      1. About painting
      2. Paint with fills and strokes
      3. Live Paint groups
      4. Gradients
      5. Brushes
      6. Transparency and blending modes
      7. Apply stroke on an object
      8. Create and edit patterns
      9. Meshes
      10. Patterns
    5. Select and arrange objects
      1. Select objects
      2. Layers
      3. Group and expand objects
      4. Move, align, and distribute objects
      5. Stack objects    
      6. Lock, hide, and delete objects
      7. Copy and duplicate objects
      8. Rotate and reflect objects
      9. Intertwine objects
    6. Reshape objects
      1. Crop images
      2. Transform objects
      3. Combine objects
      4. Cut, divide, and trim objects
      5. Puppet Warp
      6. Scale, shear, and distort objects
      7. Blend objects
      8. Reshape using envelopes
      9. Reshape objects with effects
      10. Build new shapes with Shaper and Shape Builder tools
      11. Work with Live Corners
      12. Enhanced reshape workflows with touch support
      13. Edit clipping masks
      14. Live shapes
      15. Create shapes using the Shape Builder tool
      16. Global editing
    7. Type
      1. Add text and work with type objects
      2. Create bulleted and numbered lists
      3. Manage text area
      4. Fonts and typography
      5. Format type
      6. Import and export text
      7. Format paragraphs
      8. Special characters
      9. Create type on a path
      10. Character and paragraph styles
      11. Tabs
      12. Text and type
      13. Find missing fonts (Typekit workflow)
      14. Update text from Illustrator 10
      15. Arabic and Hebrew type
      16. Fonts | FAQ and troubleshooting tips
      17. Create 3D text effect
      18. Creative typography designs
      19. Scale and rotate type
      20. Line and character spacing
      21. Hyphenation and line breaks
      22. Text enhancements
      23. Spelling and language dictionaries
      24. Format Asian characters
      25. Composers for Asian scripts
      26. Create text designs with blend objects
      27. Create a text poster using Image Trace
    8. Create special effects
      1. Work with effects
      2. Graphic styles
      3. Create a drop shadow
      4. Appearance attributes
      5. Create sketches and mosaics
      6. Drop shadows, glows, and feathering
      7. Summary of effects
    9. Web graphics
      1. Best practices for creating web graphics
      2. Graphs
      3. SVG
      4. Create animations
      5. Slices and image maps
  6. Import, export, and save
    1. Import
      1. Place multiple files
      2. Manage linked and embedded files
      3. Links information
      4. Unembed images
      5. Import artwork from Photoshop
      6. Import bitmap images
      7. Import Adobe PDF files
      8. Import EPS, DCS, and AutoCAD files
    2. Creative Cloud Libraries in Illustrator 
      1. Creative Cloud Libraries in Illustrator
    3. Save
      1. Save artwork
    4. Export
      1. Use Illustrator artwork in Photoshop
      2. Export artwork
      3. Collect assets and export in batches
      4. Package files
      5. Create Adobe PDF files
      6. Extract CSS | Illustrator CC
      7. Adobe PDF options
      8. File information and metadata
  7. Printing
    1. Prepare for printing
      1. Set up documents for printing
      2. Change the page size and orientation
      3. Specify crop marks for trimming or aligning
      4. Get started with large canvas
    2. Printing
      1. Overprint
      2. Print with color management
      3. PostScript printing
      4. Print presets
      5. Printer's marks and bleeds
      6. Print and save transparent artwork
      7. Trapping
      8. Print color separations
      9. Print gradients, meshes, and color blends
      10. White Overprint
  8. Automate tasks
    1. Data merge using the Variables panel
    2. Automation with scripts
    3. Automation with actions
  9. Troubleshooting 
    1. Crash issues
    2. Recover files after crash
    3. File issues
    4. Supported file formats
    5. GPU device driver issues
    6. Wacom device issues
    7. DLL file issues
    8. Memory issues
    9. Preferences file issues
    10. Font issues
    11. Printer issues
    12. Share crash report with Adobe
    13. Improve Illustrator performance

Learn how to print gradients, meshes, and color blends in Illustrator.

Files with gradients, meshes, or color blends can be difficult for some printers to print smoothly (without discrete bands of color) or at all.

Printing gradients, meshes, and color blends

Files with gradients, meshes, or color blends can be difficult for some printers to print smoothly (without discrete bands of color) or at all. Follow these general guidelines to improve the printed results:

  • Use a blend that changes at least 50% between two or more process-color components.

  • Use shorter blends. The optimum length depends on the colors in your blend, but try to keep blends shorter than 7.5 inches.

  • Use lighter colors, or make dark blends short. Banding is most likely to occur between very dark colors and white.

  • Use an appropriate line screen that retains 256 levels of gray.

  • If you create a gradient between two or more spot colors, assign different screen angles to the spot colors when you create color separations. If you’re not sure what the angles should be, consult your print shop.

  • Print to an output device that supports PostScript® Language Level 3 whenever possible.

  • If you have to print to an output device that supports Postscript Language Level 2, or when printing meshes that include transparency, you can choose to rasterize gradients and meshes during printing. As a result, Illustrator converts gradients and meshes from vector objects to JPEG images.

Rasterize gradients and meshes during printing

  1. Choose File > Print.
  2. Select Graphics on the left side of the Print dialog box, and select Compatible Gradient And Gradient Mesh Printing.
    Note:

    The Compatible Gradient And Gradient Mesh Printing option can slow printing on printers that don’t have problems with gradients, so only select this option if you experience printing problems.

Setting the proper screen frequency for printing gradients, meshes, and blends

When printing your file, you may find that the resolution of your printer, when combined with the chosen screen frequency, allows fewer than 256 levels of gray. A higher screen frequency decreases the levels of gray available to the printer. For example, if you are printing at a resolution of 2400 dpi, using a line screen higher than 150 results in fewer than 256 levels of gray. The following table lists the maximum line-screen setting you can use with printers to maintain all 256 levels of gray:

Final Imagesetter Resolution

Maximum Line Screen to Use

300

19

400

25

600

38

900

56

1000

63

1270

79

1446

90

1524

95

1693

106

2000

125

2400

150

2540

159

3000

188

3252

203

3600

225

4000

250

Calculate the maximum blend length for gradients

Illustrator calculates the number of steps in a gradient based on the percentage of change between the colors in the gradient. The number of steps, in turn, determines the maximum length of the blend before banding occurs.

  1. Select the Measure tool  , and click the beginning point and the endpoint of the gradient.
  2. Note the distance displayed in the Info panel on a piece of paper. This distance represents the length of the gradient or color blend.
  3. Calculate the number of steps in the blend using this formula:

    Number of steps = 256 (number of grays) X Percentage change in color

    To figure out the percentage change in color, subtract the lower color value from the higher color value. For example, a blend between 20% black and 100% black is an 80%—or 0.8—change in color.

    When blending process colors, use the largest change that occurs within any one color. For instance, take a blend from 20% cyan, 30% magenta, 80% yellow, and 60% black to 20% cyan, 90% magenta, 70% yellow, and 40% black. This indicates a 60% change, because the greatest change occurs in magenta—from 30% to 90%.

  4. Using the number of steps calculated in step 3, see if the length of the gradient is larger than the relevant maximum length indicated in the next chart. If it is, reduce the length of the gradient or change the colors.

    Number of Steps Adobe Illustrator Recommends

    Maximum Blend Length

    Points

    Inches

    Cms

    10

    21.6

    .3

    .762

    20

    43.2

    .6

    1.524

    30

    64.8

    .9

    2.286

    40

    86.4

    1.2

    3.048

    50

    108.0

    1.5

    3.810

    60

    129.6

    1.8

    4.572

    70

    151.2

    2.1

    5.334

    80

    172.8

    2.4

    6.096

    90

    194.4

    2.7

    6.858

    100

    216.0

    3.0

    7.620

    110

    237.6

    3.3

    8.382

    120

    259.2

    3.6

    9.144

    130

    280.8

    3.9

    9.906

    140

    302.4

    4.2

    10.668

    150

    324.0

    4.5

    11.430

    160

    345.6

    4.8

    12.192

    170

    367.2

    5.1

    12.954

    180

    388.8

    5.4

    13.716

    190

    410.4

    5.7

    14.478

    200

    432.0

    6.0

    15.240

    210

    453.6

    6.3

    16.002

    220

    475.2

    6.6

    16.764

    230

    496.8

    6.9

    17.526

    240

    518.4

    7.2

    18.288

    250

    540.0

    7.5

    19.050

    256

    553.0

    7.7

    19.507

What's next?

We've got you started on printing gradients, meshes, and color blends. Take a step forward and learn how to Change the printer resolution and screen frequency in Illustrator.

Got a question or an idea?

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