Add A Realistic Rainbow To A Photo In Photoshop

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Step 15: Group The Two Original Rainbow Layers

The image looks good at this point, except for one thing. I want the main rainbow to appear to be behind the trees, and right now, even though it's hard to tell with this image, the rainbow is really appearing in front of the trees. It could be more noticeable with the image you're working on, so for the sake of completion, let's see how to fix this problem. First, select one of the two original rainbow layers in the Layers palette, then Shift-click on the second one to select both of them at once:

Select both of the original rainbow layers at once.

Select both of the original rainbow layers at once in the Layers palette.

Then press Ctrl+G (Win) / Command+G (Mac) to place the two layers into a group. You'll see a folder appear in the Layers palette where the two layers were:

The two layers now in a layer group.

Press "Ctrl+G" (Win) / "Command+G" (Mac) to place both layers into a layer group.

If you twirl open the group by clicking on the right-pointing triangle to the left of the folder icon, you'll see both layers inside the group. Click the triangle again to close the group.

Step 16: Add A Layer Mask To The Group

You can add a layer mask to a group the same way you add one to a layer. With the group selected, simply click on the Add A Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers palette and a layer mask thumbnail will appear to the right of the group's folder icon:

Clicking the 'Add A Layer Mask' icon to add a mask to the group.

Click on the "Add A Layer Mask" icon to add a mask to the layer group in the same way you'd add one to a normal layer.

Step 17: Paint With Black Over Any Part Of The Rainbow You Want Hidden

Grab your Brush tool from the Tools palette, or press B to quickly select it:

Selecting the Brush tool from the Tools palette.

Select the Brush tool from the Tools palette or press "B" for the keyboard shortcut.

Then with a small, soft-edged brush and black still as your foreground color, paint over anything you want the rainbow to be hidden behind. In my case, I'm going to paint over the trees just to make sure that no part of the rainbow is visible in front of them. As I said, it's not that much of an issue with this particular image since the rainbow is barely visible in front of the trees, but it may be more of a problem with other images. Because I'm painting with black on the layer group's mask, both of the original rainbow layers inside the group will be hidden from view in any areas I paint over:

Painting with black over the trees to hide the rainbow.