Realistic Rainbow To A Photo In Photoshop

Add A Realistic Rainbow To A Photo In Photoshop

 

In this Photoshop photo effects tutorial, we'll learn how to easily add a rainbow, and even a double rainbow, to a photo! As we'll see, Photoshop ships with a ready-made rainbow gradient for us to use. We'll learn where to find it and how to load it in. We'll also learn how to flip the order of the colors in a gradient, which we'll need to do to create a more realistic double rainbow effect. Of course, as with most photo effects, it helps if you start with the right type of image. In this case, a photo taken outdoors is a good place to start. If it happens to be a landscape photo taken after a rain storm, even better! I'll be using Photoshop CS5 throughout this tutorial but any recent version will work.

Here's the photo I'll be starting with:

The original image.

Here's what the image will look like after adding a double rainbow:

The final rainbow effect.

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Let's get started!

Step 1: Add A New Blank Layer

With the image newly opened in Photoshop, if we look in the Layers panel, we see that we currently have one layer, the Background layer, which contains our image:

The photo sits on the Background layer in the Layers panel.

The first thing we need to do is add a new blank layer above the Background layer. To do that, click on the New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel:

Click on the New Layer icon.

Photoshop adds a new blank layer named "Layer 1" above the Background layer. Double-click directly on the name of the layer and change it to "Rainbow", since we'll be adding our initial rainbow to this layer. Press Enter (Win) / Return (Mac) when you're done to accept the name change:

Rename the new layer "Rainbow".

Step 2: Select The Rainbow Gradient

As I mentioned, Photoshop ships with a ready-made rainbow gradient for us to use. It's not one of the gradients that Photoshop makes available to us by default, but all we need to do is load it in manually. To do that, select the Gradient Tool from the Tools panel:

Select the Gradient Tool.

Then, with the Gradient Tool selected, click on the Gradient Picker in the Options Bar at the top of the screen:

Click on the Gradient Picker in the Options Bar.

This opens Photoshop's Gradient Editor which shows us small thumbnails of the gradients we can choose from. By default, the rainbow gradient isn't one of them, so let's load it in. Click on the right-pointing arrow in the top right of the Gradient Editor:

Click on the small arrow.

A list of additional gradient sets appears. The one we want is Special Effects. Select it from the list:

Select the "Special Effects" gradients.

Photoshop will ask you if you want to replace the original gradients with the Special Effects gradients or simply append them to the bottom of the list. Click Append so you'll still have the original gradients available, and the new Special Effects ones will be added below them:

Click "Append" to add the new "Special Effects" gradients in with the original gradients.

With the new Special Effects gradients added, the one we want - Russell's Rainbow - is the last one at the bottom. If you have Photoshop's Tool Tips enabled in the Preferences (they're enabled by default), you'll see the name "Russell's Rainbow" appear when you hover your mouse over the gradient's thumbnail. Click on the thumbnail to select the gradient, then click OK to exit out of the Gradient Editor:

Click on the "Russell's Rainbow" thumbnail to select the gradient.

Step 3: Select "Radial Gradient" From The Options Bar

To make the rainbow gradient appear as an arc when we draw it, go back up to the Options Bar at the top of the screen and click on the Radial Gradient option:

Select "Radial" from the Options Bar.

Step 4: Drag Out A Rainbow With The Gradient Tool

To add the rainbow colors to the image, all we need to do is drag out a gradient. I want my rainbow to appear as if it's touching the ground behind the group of trees on the left of my photo and then arching high above the larger tree on the right. To do that, I'll position my mouse almost at the edge of the photo near the bottom right corner, in line horizontally with the bottom of the trees on the left. I'll click on that spot to set the starting point for my gradient, and with my mouse button still held down, I'll drag all the way across the image to a point just beyond the left of the trees. Holding my Shift key down as I drag will limit the direction I can drag in, making it easy to drag horizontally:

Dragging out a radial rainbow gradient from right to left in the image.

When you release your mouse button, Photoshop draws the rainbow gradient. It doesn't look terribly realistic just yet, but it's a start: