[SVG12] Shaped gradients

I'm surprised that SVG doesn't have gradients that are shaped
according to a path.  I've found that this type of gradient fill is
useful for a variety of effects.  I'm thinking specifically of what is
produced by GIMP's gradient tool in the "shaped" modes. The path is
filled by the gradient, where the color at an interior point is based
on the shortest distance to the path.

The most natural way to extend this to SVG is to create a
shapedGradient paint server that takes a linearGradient and a path. 
Since this opens the opportunity for one shape to be filled with a
gradient shaped entirely differently, the shaped gradient opperation
needs to be defined outside of the path.  What makes sense is for the
reflect and repeat modes to be based on the shortest distance to the
path, while pad mode fills the area outside of the shape with the
terminal color.

Nathan Summers

Received on Monday, 27 June 2005 03:41:56 UTC