Home › Lessons › 2026-10-16

GRADIENT in AutoCAD — Colour a Robot with Smooth Fills

Lesson notes for the CAD Land video — the exact command, what it does, and how to repeat it on your own drawing.

AutoCAD · 2026-10-16

▶️ Watch the lesson

Watch on YouTube Subscribe

⌨️ Command used in this video

GRADIENTGRADIENT — Gradient fillSee it in the command dictionary →

📝 How to do it yourself

Type GD and press Enter.
Choose a single-colour or two-colour gradient, then pick the colours.
Pick the gradient type: linear, cylindrical or spherical.
Click inside the closed area to fill it.

ℹ️ What GRADIENT actually does

Fills an area with a smooth colour gradient instead of a line pattern. It can be linear, cylindrical or spherical.

When to use it

Use it for presentation drawings, sky and glass effects, sun/shade studies and report graphics where flat colour looks too hard.

⚠️ Common mistakes

Using gradients in technical drawings that will be printed in black and white — they turn into muddy grey.
Forgetting that gradient prints can be slow on large plotters with raster output.
Layering a gradient over a hatch and losing the linework underneath — adjust DRAWORDER.

🔗 Related commands

HATCH DRAWORDER SOLID

🎬 Keep watching

MLEADER in AutoCAD — Arrow and Text in One Command2026-10-19 · lesson FLATSHOT in AutoCAD — Turn a 3D House into a 2D Elevation2026-10-17 · lesson THE NEW TESLA ROADSTER IN AUTOCAD2026-10-17 · lesson SPLINE in AutoCAD — Draw Smooth Curves (No Arcs Needed)2026-10-15 · lesson

See all lessons →