Converting images from RGB to CMYK can cause some unpredictable colour shifts-especially in very bright colours, but people often prefer to work in RGB colour depth in Photoshop, as you can apply any filter, the colour gammut is wider and the files are smaller due to there only being 3 colour channels. However, if you are preparing images for commercial print you almost always have to have your final file in the CMYK colour depth.
Gradients can suffer particularly if created in an RGB colour depth and then converted to CMYK, with nasty colour banding appearing rather than your nice smooth gradient.
The way round this is to create your gradient in CMYK colour depth-it will produce a much smoother result when printed.
If its on a layer, you can also add a very small amount of noise to break up the banding, but be careful you dont go over the top with this-its usually best to apply it then fade it off a little!
Very useful information. My problem is that I place a gradient to a photo so it fades from the bottom (by adding a layer mask). However, a heavy banding appears. I’ve read all over and they suggest to add noise to the gradient. Any other suggestions
Humph - apart from adding noise to break up the banding - really you need to make your gradient smaller - very large gradients can suffer from banding.