# The Gradiently Forge: crafting a Mark control by control

[Canonical HTML page](https://gradiently.design/guide/forge-guide)

The Forge is where Marks are made. Here is what every section does, in the order you meet them, and how to use them without getting lost.

## The short version

- The Gradiently Forge is the editor where Marks are made, organised as ten sections from Start to Explore.
- A Mark in the Forge can have up to eight palette colours and up to three stacked materials, each mixing over the one below.
- The stage shows the Mark live in three views: alone on the Canvas, in many Formats at once, or carrying your own words in Try words.
- Any section can be shuffled on its own or locked so shuffles and variations leave it alone.
- The Forge exports a Mark at any size up to 16K as PNG, JPEG or WebP, or as a short looping video.

The **Gradiently Forge** is the editor where Marks are made: living gradient and material backgrounds with a palette, stacked materials, light, grain, motion, particles, typefaces and a reaction to words. It is laid out as a rail of ten sections on the left, the controls for the current section beside it, and a large live stage. Every change shows on the stage at once, and every change to your draft saves as you go.

This is a tour of each section in order. If you would rather start from words, [describe a Mark in a sentence](https://gradiently.design/guide/describe-a-mark) covers the AI route, and [making your own gradient](https://gradiently.design/guide/making-a-mark-and-earning-from-it) covers publishing.

## The ten sections of the Forge

The rail runs top to bottom in the order a Mark is usually built. Click a section, or step through with the up and down arrow keys. A dot marks each section you have changed since opening the Mark.

| Section | What it changes |
| --- | --- |
| Start | Describe it, roll a surprise, start from a family of materials or take colours from a photo |
| Material | What the base is made of, chosen from a searchable library |
| Colour | The palette, and which colour plays which role |
| Layers | Up to three materials stacked, and how each mixes |
| Light | Brightness, film grain and the arrangement of forms |
| Motion | How it moves on screen and in videos |
| Particles | A fine dust of light in the Mark's own colours |
| Type | A headline face and a text face |
| Reaction | How it makes room for words |
| Explore | Twelve variations around your Mark |

The Forge rail, top to bottom. Each section opens with one line on what it changes.

## Start and Material: choosing what it is made of

**Start** is for beginnings: type a description and the AI makes it, choose **Surprise me** for a whole new Mark (with five more if the first doesn't land), open a family of materials, or drop in a photo or logo and let the Mark take its colours. Undo always brings back what you had.

**Material** is the library of what a Mark can be made of. Search by name, mood or use, such as *marble*, *calm* or *metal*, or browse by family. Rest on a material to preview it on the stage and click to apply it. Each material also has several looks, tuned starting points you can pick before adjusting by hand.

## Colour: palette, roles and harmonies

A Mark holds up to eight colours. Each layer paints with four roles, **Shadow**, **Body**, **Light** and **Highlight**, and each role takes one palette colour. Rest on a colour to see where it lands. **Harmonies** grows a new palette from any one colour using classic relationships, and **From an image** takes a palette from a photo or logo.

- Analogous: `linear-gradient(135deg, #2a1459 0%, #6d3fc7 50%, #3f6fd8 100%)`
- Complementary: `linear-gradient(135deg, #2a1459 0%, #6d3fc7 55%, #e9b43a 100%)`
- Split: `linear-gradient(135deg, #2a1459 0%, #6d3fc7 45%, #d9c43a 75%, #6fcf6a 100%)`
- Triadic: `linear-gradient(135deg, #6d3fc7 0%, #e0853a 50%, #3ab5a0 100%)`
- Tints and shades: `linear-gradient(135deg, #150a2e 0%, #6d3fc7 50%, #d9c8f7 100%)`

The five harmonies the Colour section offers, each grown here from the same violet. More on the theory in [how to use the colour wheel](https://gradiently.design/guide/color-wheel).

The Colour section also sets how words look on this Mark: **Auto**, where each line picks light or dark from what is behind it, or always light, or always dark. A readout shows the contrast ratio, and 4.5 : 1 or more reads well. [Colour contrast](https://gradiently.design/guide/color-contrast-accessibility) explains why that number matters.

## Layers, Light and Motion

**Layers** stacks up to three materials: a base at the bottom and up to two above it. Each layer has dials for Size, Bend, Detail, Brightness and Movement, a Strength, and a way of mixing with what is below: **Normal** covers it, **Light** only adds glow, **Shade** only darkens, **Contrast** deepens darks and lifts lights, and **Soft** is a gentle Contrast. Solo a layer to tune it alone, or hide it while you look.

**Light** moves the whole Mark together: brightness, a fine film grain, and the **arrangement**, which is where the large forms and fine texture fall. Drag across the arrangement square to move through them, jump somewhere new at random, and save up to eight arrangements you like. **Motion** sets the pace, from Still through Slow, Easy and Lively to Quick, with Speed, Drift and how much each layer takes part.

- Square post: 1080 × 1080
- Portrait post: 1080 × 1350
- Story: 1080 × 1920
- X header: 1500 × 500
- YouTube thumbnail: 1280 × 720
- Desktop 16:9: 1920 × 1080

Some of the shapes the stage's Formats view shows at once. Light and arrangement changes are easiest to judge across several of them together.

## Particles, Type and Reaction

**Particles** adds an optional dust of light drifting over the Mark in its own colours. Pick a style, **Dust**, **Stars**, **Mist**, **Swarm**, **Silk** or **Embers**, then fine tune Amount, Size, Glow, Current, how far they part around words and how long they keep moving after a push. **Type** sets the two faces every design on the Mark starts from, one for headlines and one for text, with weight, spacing and case.

**Reaction** decides how the Mark makes room for words. Presets run Off, Subtle, Clear and Wide, and the dials let you tune it: Recolour slides the palette toward a contrasting colour behind words, Flow around routes ridges and grain around letters, Calm relaxes the material, Reach decides whether it hugs each letter or the whole block, and Settle moves the material so words land on its calmest part.

A headline on a gradient material with reaction switched off, the texture running through the letters

Reaction Off: the material ignores the words.

The same headline with reaction on, the material calmer and higher in contrast behind the words

Reaction on: the Mark settles its calmest part behind them.

## Explore, shuffle and lock

**Explore** lays twelve variations around your Mark. Choose the kind: Nearby for small moves, Bolder, Calmer, Other materials for the same colours in new materials, Other palettes for the same material in new colours, or Surprise for further afield. Hold the Option key as you click one to compare it with yours side by side.

1. **Shuffle one section at a time** Every section has its own shuffle: a new colour, a new light or new particles while the rest stays. Undo brings back the last one.
2. **Lock what you love** Lock a section and shuffles and variations leave it alone. Locking Colour and exploring Other materials is a quick way to find the right surface for a palette you already like.
3. **Keep versions as you go** Versions are saved automatically while you edit, before the AI changes anything, and whenever you choose **Save version**. Compare any two and restore either.

## Formats and export from the Forge

Switch the stage to **Formats** to see the Mark in many shapes at once, or add your own format in pixels, inches, centimetres or millimetres with a print resolution. **Export** downloads the Mark itself at 1×, 2× or 4× a format's size, at 8K or 16K on the long side, or at an exact width, as PNG, JPEG or WebP, or as a 5 to 10 second loop video, with or without your test words. Downloading a Mark you don't hold asks you to claim it first. For full designs with words, photos and pages, export from the Studio instead; see [exporting images and loops](https://gradiently.design/guide/export-images-and-loops).

## FAQ

### What is the Gradiently Forge?

The Forge is Gradiently's editor for making Marks, living gradient and material backgrounds, organised in ten sections from Start to Explore.

### How many colours and materials can a Mark have?

Up to eight palette colours and up to three stacked materials: a base and up to two layers mixed over it.

### Can the AI change a Mark in the Forge?

Yes. The AI opens beside the stage and can change anything in the Forge. Describe what you want, such as warmer, calmer or more like liquid metal.

### What size can I export a Mark at from the Forge?

Up to 16K on the long side, as PNG, JPEG or WebP, or as a 5 to 10 second looping video.

### What does locking a section do?

A locked section is left alone by shuffles and Explore variations, so you can change everything else around it.