Different gradient shapes include diamond, reflected, linear, etc. There is also the gradient blending modes for foreground and background colors. Just double click the tool bar in the color picker to change the color of the foreground or background. You can have your foreground transparent. its color fades so you will be able to see the layers below. Fading is done by swiping across the pixels.

Different locations for gradient include Adjustment Layer, Fill Layer, Layer Styles Menus and Tool Options Bar.

There are two gradient types or settings, solid and noise. Solid is a gradient generated algorithmically, while noise is from RGB values. Solid gradient is used for manually set colors, while noise is for numerous color bands.

Before you can use the gradient tool, convert first the background layer to a regular layer. Then, create a gradient layer. Choose any gradient style and make sure that the gradient layer is transparent. The transition between color bands can be determined by adjusting the smoothness. Short strokes result to sharper gradient and long strokes result to smoother gradient.

The Gradient Editor dialog, which can be extracted when you click the gradient itself, is used to modify gradient. Drag the top Opacity Stop if you want to lengthen the opaque portion of the gradient. To decrease opacity, just drag the white Opacity Stop. There is a small diamond that appears between the stop markers called the Gradient Midpoint. This midpoint can be used to adjust smoothness of the gradient by simply dragging it the left or to the right. If you drag it to the left the smoothness of the gradient is increased and when you drag it to the right the smoothness decreases.

To edit multiple layers, group them first by selecting them and then type Command-G or Control-G. If you want to ungroup multiple layers, just type Shift-Command-G or Shift-Control-G. If you want to modify you’re your work, use the Gradient Editor. Double click the gradient layer and choose new gradient style.

You can make your own gradient and add it to the pre-defined gradients by saving it and setting the style scale and angle of your gradient.