Adding a rainbow to a picture using Adobe Photoshop  

The purpose of this tutorial is to show how to add a rainbow into a picture. First, you must choose carefully the type of image you want to work on. Taking into consideration that we are going to add a rainbow, it is best to choose a landscape image. If you have a shot taken after a storm is even better, as it will give a bit more realism to the final image.

Open the picture you want to edit. Click File > Open and browse until you find the image you will work on.

After you have the image opened in Photoshop, the next step is to add a new layer above the current one. If you look at this moment at the layer palette, you will see that only one layer exists, the Background layer. The Background layer contains the original image. In order to create a new layer above the Background one, click on the New Layer, icon. You will find this icon at the bottom of the Layers palette.

When you create a new layer, Photoshop will add a blank layer named “Layer 1”. Because you will use this layer to add the rainbow in the picture, rename the new layer to “Rainbow”. Do this by double-clicking on the new layer’s name and rename it accordingly.

The next step is to select and use the Rainbow Gradient. Adobe Photoshop has embedded a tool which you can use to create rainbow-like effects. The only problem is that this feature is not available in Photoshop’s default tool bar and you have to load it by yourself. You will first need to grab the Gradient tool. You will find this feature available in the Tools palette. You can also use its keyboard shortcut to ease your work (press the G key).

After you have selected the Gradient tool, go to the Gradient Picker. You will find this feature in the Options Bar located at the top of the screen. A new window containing the Gradient Editor will show up on the screen. The list does not contain the rainbow gradient by default and thus you will have to load it.