I’m trying to modify my companies logo for our new catalog by applying a gradient to it. I’ve tried to do this in both Illustrator CS4 and Photoshop CS4 and for some reason I can’t get the gradient to apply only to the logo. Instead, it applies the gradient to the background. The logo is saved as a JPEG, so I’m not sure if that has anything to do with it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
The gradient tool has no way of knowing what part of the image is your logo, and which part is the background. Used without masks or blending modes, it’s a global adjustment….nothing is safe.
As the image is a jpeg, the file is a in single layer. So, you’ll need to mask out the background, then apply the gradient as an adjustment layer. The difficulty of that method will depend on the design and composition of the logo. The mask may be able to be created with a couple clicks of the magic wand, or you may have to spend a couple of hours with the lasso or path tools.
If you can find the original file for the logo (from the designer), you may find it’s actually in layers, which will make you job immensely easier.
I agree to a point, Bart, but John is absolutely right when he cautions about logos being printed with all sorts of processes. Some companies have an outline form of their logo for black and white (copier and printer) reproduction, but most make do with only one logo that can be reproduced faithfully using virtually any method (Coke).
As a rule, gradients are avoided, but not always. The UPS color logo is a good example of a gradient, or shaded blend, being used successfully. However, on the UPS forms, they use an outline version.
I have no idea what the OP is planning to do with the company’s logo. Adding a gradient isn’t necessarily always wrong, but it has to be carefully considered. I also wonder if this alteration of the logo is a permanent change, since it’s normally considered bad form to tweak a logo if you don’t intend to use the new look on everything.
Our logo is basically our name (K-Line) with the bottom line of the "L" extending to the right with the "ine" on top and "Industries" on top as well as it continues across the page. What I would like to do is have the bottom of the "L" fade to white as it extends across the page. I plan on using this new version of the logo as a header for our new catalog. That is, if I can get it to look and print well.
