Make object fade from solid to transparent

Thanks for the feedback Scott, but I was wanting to use the standard Visio stencil... it matches all my other diagrams (for continuity throughout my network diagrams) and has the required connector points built into it.

The first attached image is the "Cloud" I'm working with. You will see that it is actually a cluster of clouds grouped as a single object.  I'm trying to apply a global gradient to this object so that it behaves like your example (see the second attached image). However, changing the colour or gradient of the fill acts upon each sub-object individually in an undesired way

If this is not possible, I guess I'll just need to save this cloud stencil as a high res image and manually apply a white gradient like I have in the attached low res example.

Do you use the five connection points on the outer edge of the cloud and attach your own lines to them or do you use the control handles to draw lines extending outward from the center of the cloud?

If you just use the connection points, it's very easy to add connection points to any shape. Consequently, you could use the freeform tool to create a cloud that looks almost exactly the same as the prebuilt cloud (without or without the interior cloud shapes, which brings me to...)

Do you really want the interior clouds? If not, it's very easy to ungroup the cloud shape, remove the interior clouds and re-add the connection points.

If you use the control handles, it would be more work but not that hard to add the control handle line-drawing subshape to any cloud.


If not, it would a little bit of work but we could unbrou

ignore last line of previous post!

I'm not so concerned with the connector points, I don't intend to relocate this object often and so am not concerned with the connection lines rerouting automatically. What I am concerned with is the continuity of visual appearance by using standard Visio shapes throughout my multi-page document. To this end, I have made a higher res raster image (suitable for printing as part of an A3 sized map) of the example I 've provided above and set the transparency to start & finish exactly where I need it. Saved as a PNG (to support the alpha blending) and then imported into Visio. The end result it what I'm looking for, albeit not as neat and tidy as a vector image that does the same thing.

If anyone has a better idea of how to modify an existing built-in stencil (ie. not create a new one) to apply a graduated transparency to it, please let me know. Otherwise I'll be rewarding the points to myself ;)

I've upped the points to max... does anyone know how to resolve this using vector images only?

Sorry, but I can't help with vector images. I haven't looked but suspect there is a zone or two related more to image manipulation -- you might add a non-Visio zone like that to the question to broaden the range of experts who can help.

If you want to fade to transparent you can create it manually:

Select the shape you want to fade and go to the fill properties. Once here select the fill pattern of 30 ( or anything above 25, depending on what you want to do).
Then, show the ShapeSheet (Window menu, show shapesheet). Go to the "Fill Format" section and change the "FillForegndTrans" value to 100%. That should give you a fade to transparent effect!!!!

Sorry fileinster, that doesn't work. The solution you suggest is what I've referred to in my first post and (as per my first post) "cos of the different gradients within the sub-objects of this stencil, I can't make it behave as I'd like."

If this "cloud" stencil was a single object then yes, your suggestion would probably work. But since this stencil is made from multiple objects (see the images I've posted above), applying a gradient causes the cloud's colours to change undesirably and the FillForegroundTrans field doesn't have any affect.

Since this "cloud" stencil is readily available as one of Visio's builtin stencils, anyone can test ideas before posting. I don't think the solution I'm looking for can be done (easily)... so it looks like I'm left with my existing solution of exporting the stencil as a raster image and applying a transparent gradient to that.

If anyone is good with Inkscape, I could export this stencil from Visio as an SVG and open it for editing in Inkscape.

Thanks
Mayday175

You're right!
That can't be done; you can apply the transparency to each individual component object, but not to the object as a whole.
The reason for this is the fill is not applied to the group; it is applied to individual items. I don't think applying a gradual transparency to the individual items won't give you the effect you are looking for either.

if this was in photoshop then i would just apply a mask. then fade off the end of that mask (simply using a very large round eraser with 0% hardness) creating the desired effect. Can a similar method be used in the program you are using?