Adding a rainbow to an image can be a beautiful finishing touch and isn't so difficult to do just follow these simple steps! 

For this tutorial I am using Photoshop Elements, the current version is Photoshop Elements 10 and can be purchased for around £50 for either a PC or Mac.

1. Open the photo you would like to apply the rainbow to in Photoshop Elements.
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2. Select the Gradient tool.

2. On the left hand tools bar select the Gradient tool. 
    
3. Now go to the options that have now appeared along the top of the page and click on the drop down arrow at the left hand side. You need to select 'Transparent Rainbow' from the panel that drops down.
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3. Select 'Transparent Rainbow' from the drop down Gradient options.
4. The 'Gradients Editor' box will now appear and you will see a colour bar along the bottom of the box. Using the sliding tabs reduce the width of all of the colours and the outside tabs so you are left with a narrow strip of colours in the middle of the bar. See the picture above in step 3 for an example of what the bar should now look like. Set the Opacity to between 20 and 30% to give a more realistic rainbow effect. Click 'Ok' once you have finished doing this.

5. New create a new layer by clicking the 'Create New Layer' button at the bottom of the layers panel over to the right of the screen.

6. To create the rainbow simply click your mouse, hold and drag to make a line and when you release the mouse button the rainbow will appear. As you have created the rainbow in it's own layer you can freely move it and adjust the size without affecting the background image. Have a play around until you are happy with the location of your rainbow.  If you want to change the opacity of the rainbow you can adjust it by changing the opacity of the layer in the layers panel.

7. If you would like it to appear that your rainbow is disappearing behind something you can simply use the eraser tool from the tool panel at the left and just erase any sections of the rainbow you want to be hidden.

8. Finish by right clicking on the background layer and select 'Flatten image'. 

9. Save your completed image and use it for whatever you wish!
Photo editing tips
Our finished rainbow image!
I'd love to see your finished rainbow images, come over and visit us on our facebook page  https://www.facebook.com/photofairydesigns and share your rainbow edits!
This is the 3rd in a series of Photoshop Elements Tutorials so please check back for more in the future! 
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