Gradient Question

This is probably a silly question, and i dont know if i can explain it well but bear with me. When create an object, and apply a gradient to it (for instance a thick line), rather than having the gradient start horizontally at the beginning and end at the end of the line, how can i make it vertical starting at the edges of the line (following its contours)? I have played with fill transform and it wont do it. Any ideas?

using the fill transform tool (by hittin F in Flash) you can do exactly what you describe. Change the location of the gradient, direction and size.

-bret

Thanks for your reply, but thats only half of what i was looking for. imagine a rainbow, using the fill transform tool you could make the fill vertical, however when i adjust the size and height of the fill, the tool wouldn’t allow me to contour the gradient as to fit the curves of the line. Rather it would have the fill start at the peeks and valleys, irrespective of the shape of the line. any other ideas?

either use the mesh gradient tool in illustrator and import in your file, or make your rainbow a rectalgle, then use the free distort tool that gives you all kinds of edit points. This ill actually distort the fill like you want it to.