Where are the Gradient color presets in CS6?

Question

Hi,
I've gone from CS4 to CS6 and when using the Gradient tool, there used to be a properties box that you could open with a whole list of preset color gradients to choose from, i used to use the 'Black - White' one all the time, which kinda blurred the edges, made a transparent gradient and allowed, for want of a better word, montages to be created easily, but now this function seems to have gone. Is it hiding somewhere that I don't know about? Or alternatively, can someone advise me on how to get the same effect that the Black White Preset used to give me?
Thanks a lot
Jules

Answer 1

Yeah, those gradients are gone in CS6. On the one hand, most of them were pretty cheesy; on the other hand, it's a bit surprising they took away those presets but still didn't offer users a simple way to save gradients.
One way that you can save gradients is as Styles. As an experiment, I actually did this one day for the classic Fireworks gradients. Once created, styles can be saved as a library, where you can call on them from within any FW document.
Another way to quickly create a black and white gradient is by setting the fill and/or stroke colors, which are the basis of gradients. You can reset the default fill and stroke colors within the Tools panel. However, this can be tricky, at times, depending on what objects are selected and what type of fill they already have; it can be easy to accidentally apply a stroke to an object this way. Alternatively, if Stroke is set to None, then setting Fill to Black will result in a black and white gradient when you switch to a gradient Fill type.