Grid Fade Out Effect

sadly i can`t find an example to post here - so you know what i`m talking about .... .basically i can create a simple grid pattern ... but i then want to fade the edges out ..... kinda like a gradient effect ..

i`ve used a feathering technique and kinda acheived the look i want .. but it's not quite good enough ( also tried using the eraser too with large airbrush ).

whats the best approach for this ? masks ? gradients ?

also lets say i have a straight line and i want to fade the line out into the background ... whats the easiest most effective way of doing this ?

apologise if these questions are stupid ... but i couldn`t find anything on the web .....

thanks

dave

hmmm this was actually quite easy ..... i just created a new layer and then used the gradient tool ... with Foreground to Transparent ..... i`ve acheived some nice looking affects .. especially with repeated gradients over the top of each other ..

if anyone else has any other cool techniques i`d be interested to see them ..

btw : this is what i created .... very simple i know ... but i`ve wanted to know how to do it for ages ...




how can i make this look better and what text effect would look good over the top of it ?

How did you create the grid(and install into your patterns menu)?

You can create a small new canvas with no background something like 5 by 5 pixels and then draw a cross with your pencil tool. when your done with the cross, then go to edit-define patern and name it whatever you want.
Now when you go to fill your image with a pattern it will be there and you got yourself a grid. Hope this helps.
Jeremy