Can I make a freeform gradient in a vector editor?
Yes. Vectornation by Zaweba has freeform gradients alongside linear and radial ones, edited on the canvas with the Gradient tool, and they work on strokes too.
Freeform gradients are built into Vectornation by Zaweba, so yes, you can. Alongside linear and radial (elliptical) gradients there is a freeform type, where colours sit at points you place on the shape and blend softly between them. You edit them on the canvas with the Gradient tool, shortcut G, and they work on strokes as well as fills.
What makes a freeform gradient different
A linear gradient blends along a line, and a radial one blends out from a centre. Both are tidy and predictable, which is exactly why they can look mechanical. A freeform gradient drops the idea of a direction. You place colour points wherever you like and the shape fills with a soft blend between them, a little like colours dabbed on wet paper.
That makes it right for organic colour: backgrounds that drift from one hue to another, soft shading on a rounded shape, the glow of a sky, or the multi colour washes popular in modern brand artwork.
Making one
Draw or select a shape and give it a gradient fill. Choose freeform as the gradient type. Then use the Gradient tool on the canvas to place colour points. Click to add a point, pick its colour, and drag it to where you want that colour strongest. Add another, and another. The blend updates as you go.
Start with two or three points. It's easy to add more, and a few well placed colours often look better than many.
On strokes as well as fills
Vectornation applies gradients to strokes as well as fills, freeform included. A thick stroke with a freeform gradient makes a colourful outline or ribbon, and on lettering it gives a hand painted feel. With the Width tool varying the stroke's thickness, a gradient stroke can look almost like a brush mark.
Better colour in the blend
Two settings help the result look smooth. Perceptual blending uses the OKLab colour space so the colours in between look like natural steps from one to the other, rather than passing through a dull grey middle, which some pairs, such as blue and yellow, tend to do. Gradient dithering adds a very fine noise that hides banding, the visible stripes that can appear in long, gentle blends on screen or in print.
Freeform gradient or gradient mesh
Vectornation also has a gradient mesh, made with the Gradient mesh tool (U). A mesh gives finer control: colour points on a grid that you can bend to follow the form of an object, which is how realistic shading is painted. It takes longer to set up and edit.
A freeform gradient is the quick option. Use it when you want soft colour without the work of a mesh, and switch to a mesh when the shading has to follow a shape closely.
Using freeform gradients well
Keep a design system in mind. If your brand has set colours, use them as the gradient's points so the blend stays on brand. Vectornation reads ASE, ACO and GPL swatch files, so brand colours from other programs can come in as swatches.
Watch contrast with text. A colourful freeform background can make some words hard to read where the gradient passes behind them. Check at the size it will be seen.
For print, look at the gradient in a soft proof with your printer's profile, which Vectornation supports, because bright screen colours can print duller in CMYK.
Freeform gradients give vector artwork the softness people often go to a painting program for. In Vectornation by Zaweba they sit right next to the linear and radial ones, and stay editable.
