Copyright Arizona Kate 2001 All rights reserved.
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With this tutorial we will create a realistic looking rainbow effect to add to your photos and other images. Tut is easy and, although it has been written for Paint Shop Pro version 7, notes are included for version 6 users.

OK, let's get started! Open new image 350w x 350h, 16 mil colors

Use white for background color so we don't have to work with the checkerboard pattern....just don't merge layers! Save your rainbow in PSP format as we go along (keeping the white layer separate) so you can use the finished rainbow in many different images.

Create new layer for rainbow

Select these settings for your Line Tool:

Line style single line, #1 solid, antialias on, line width 50, vector off, close path off

Set PSP 7 Styles boxes as follows:

Stroke style: gradient
Fill style: null
Select edit and then select "Fading Spectrum" as the style (see screenshot below).
Gradient style should be set to linear (horizontal & vertical selections will be grayed out). Set angle & repeats to 0 and check the 'invert gradient' box. Preview should show red on top as shown in screenshot below).

Set Texture styles to Null (N/A for PSP 6)

   

Draw straight line across middle of canvas (hold shift key down to get a perfectly straight line).

I think there's too much red in this gradient to look natural for a rainbow, so let's use selection tool to remove the darkest part of the red.

Selection: Rectangle, Feather 4, antialias on

Grab just 3 to 5 pixels of the top bright red edge of the gradient and CUT to remove that portion. You just need a very tiny selection because, once you release the mouse button, the feather setting will grow to include more pixels. This feathering will give us a nice soft edge similar to the bottom edge of the gradient.

Bending & Softening the gradient

Turn on ruler: View > Rulers

Move the gradient stripe so that the top edge is at ruler position 100. Position can effect results. Too high in your image and the top of the rainbow will get cut off, too low and it'll effect the shape. You may need to experiment with settings..it can vary from photo to photo. Turn off ruler when done.

PSP7 Effects > Geometric Effects > Warp: Horizontal=0 and Vertical=40 Size=100, Strength=60

PSP6 Image > Deformations > Warp: Horizontal=0 and Vertical=40 Size=100, Strength=60

<--- The gradient should now look like this.

Because of the warping, we've lost some of the soft edge...so lets blend and soften the colors to look more like a real rainbow. Experiment with different intensity settings...I used a setting of 10 in the screenshot above.

PSP7 Effects > Blur > Motion Blur Angle=0 Intensity=10-20
PSP6 Image > Blur > Motion Blue Angle=0 Intensity=10-20

All gradients seem to look better with a little Noise added. Experiment with these settings too.

PSP7 Effects > Noise > Add > Uniform, 3 or 4%
PSP6 Image > Noise > Add > Uniform, 3 or 4%

Add rainbow to your photo

Open up one of your landscape/seascape photos that you think would look nice with a rainbow. Duplicate the image and work on a copy. Create a new layer on your image and copy/paste the rainbow into the new layer.

Always place the rainbow on a layer of its own so that you can adjust opacity of the rainbow colors.

Reduce opacity of the rainbow layer to around 40-55%. (adjust for your own photo...it will depend on the size of your photo and the colors in your sky)

You may have to resize the rainbow, larger or smaller, to fit your photo. There's 2 ways to do this.

1. If there's a big difference in size, use Image > Resize. Resize either the photo layer or the rainbow layer, as appropriate. This will depend on the photo you've selected. Experiment with settings. You can always UNDO! Just make sure that 'Resize all layers' is NOT checked!!

2. If there's a small difference in size, just use the Deformation Tool to stretch or shrink the rainbow.

Also use the Deformation Tool to rotate the rainbow to suit your photo.

Edit the rainbow

The rainbow should only be in the sky, so cut or erase the parts of the rainbow that might show in front of buildings, etc.

One important exception will be water. You can reflect the rainbow in any water that is in your photo. Duplicate your rainbow layer. Flip the duplicated rainbow so that it is a mirror image of the original rainbow.

The opacity for this layer should be somewhat less than the opacity used on the sky rainbow. In the image below I've used 40% opacity for rainbow in the sky and 30% opacity for it's reflection in the water.

Then there'll be times when you'll want something more playful than realistic...maybe a splash of bright color....as in this photo of the Grand Canyon.

Don't forget to save the rainbow as a file by itself to use again in another image!

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial and have fun doing some photo-editing! ....Kate

Note: I received this note from TF, who seems to know a lot about the weather. Here's what he has to say about creating realistic rainbows......

...you'll only see a rainbow when the sun is at your back; that's just part of the physics involved. Also, the intensity of the rainbow will follow the intensity of the sun. On an overcast day few rainbows will be seen (if any) and during a "sun shower", rainbows can be fairly intense. So, if one desires a realistic effect, these ideas should be kept in mind when selecting an image and applying the rainbow.