Are gradients calculated with gradient vectors?

[Legendary_Bibo]

We've just finished covering gradient vectors in my Calculus class, and it got me thinking, is this what they use to calculate gradients in art programs like the GIMP and Photoshop? From what I understand color space is 3-dimensional (4th-dimensional with certain types of color spaces (xyCMYK or something :confused: )). Does anyone know? I love math and seeing how its applied in the real world and in computer programs. I was thinking about e-mailing Adobe, or the creators of GIMP.

[fatality_uk]

Mathematics make my ears bleed!! But sounds interesting so post back as and when you find out :)

[Khakilang]

Sound interesting although math is not my strongest subject but I use Gimp quite a lot. So it is good to know about the xyCMYK. Hope you can get the answer and post it to us. Thanks in advance.