How to Blend Around a Curve

This tip describes two ways to make a blend go around a curve shape. I saw this tip years ago for FreeHand 3.1 in an old Aldus magazine called Before & After. I've decided to revise this great tip for the ability in FreeHand 7 and above to attach a blend to a path, but as you will soon see, it's a bit tricky to work with.

Version: depending on method

Paste-inside method

Version: Any

In this illustration, I want to create a gradient fill that curves with the arrow shape and shows movement.

First, it may be easier to move the arrow shape off of the illustration. Add thick blend lines where you want the color changes to be. Since I want the thick part of the arrow to blend in with the land color, I start with that color. The lines must be long enough to clear the arrow shape, shown here by dashed lines. The lines should also be perpendicular to the curve.

Next, blend each segment together to one piece. Use enough steps in the blend to ensure no gaps. The blends will rotate around their innermost points. Cut the blends then Paste-inside the arrow shape.

Then just remove any unwanted lines around the arrow shape, and put it back in the illustration.

Blend attached to a path method.

Version: 7 and above

For this illustration, I want to create a gradient fill that curves with the bottom half (marked with dashed lines) of the Big S shape using the 5 lines shown above the text.

First Blend the colored lines together just like shown above. Make sure to give the blend enough steps so there is no gaps. Next draw a line using any method that works best for you, in the center of the S shape. This will be the path for the blend.

While both items are still selected choose Modify -> Combine -> Join Blend To Path and your shapes should look like the above example. Now you'll have to do some tweaking of the lines in order for them to cover the underlying S shape. You can Option/Alt+Click on the individual lines to select them in the blend and reshape them as needed.

Once your finished tweaking (minutes to hours depending on complexity of blend, heh heh) Cut the Blends, then Paste-inside the S shape. As you can see, the blend is still not perfect, as there are overlapping problems that can occur when attaching a Blend to a Path in really tight fitting situations.

So, there are two options to create a gradient fill inside a curved shape. Either method is good, but again, the Join to Path option may give results your not looking for. So just play around with both methods and you'll be on your way to impressing your co-workers.