How to Create a Rainbow Gradient in Photoshop

Posted on:  Dec 30, 2023

What You’ll Learn in This Rainbow Gradient Photoshop Tutorial

• How to create a rainbow gradient in Photoshop
• How to create a Pride rainbow in Photoshop
• How to save a preset rainbow gradient background for Photoshop
• How to add a rainbow effect to a photo

What You’ll Need

To complete this Photoshop rainbow gradient project, you will need the following resource:

• Couple Kissing

1. How to Create a Pride Rainbow Gradient in Photoshop

Step 1

To create a colorful gradient in Photoshop, first, locate the Layer Adjustments icon at the bottom of the Layers panel. It’s an icon of a circle that’s half filled in.

Select and choose Gradient from the dropdown menu. This will create a Gradient Fill layer.

Step 2

Next, select the Gradient window to open the Gradient Editor. A number of premade gradients will appear.

Step 3

In the Gradient settings box, double-click the bottom and leftmost anchor point, also called a Stop, to open the Color Picker.

The rainbow pride colors are:

• Red #e40303
• Orange #ff8c00
• Yellow #ffed00
• Green #008026
• Blue #004dff
• Purple #750787

The leftmost Stop is the beginning of the gradient, so let’s set it to Red #e40303.

Click OK.

Step 4

Now, select the rightmost Stop, setting it to a Purple #750787 color.

If the Stop started out as transparent, select the upper left Stop and set the Opacity to 100%.

Step 5

Click right below the Gradient box to create a new Stop. We want to create four new Stops between the original two. Try to make them evenly spaced by clicking the Stop and dragging.

Step 6

Change the colors of the middle Stops to:

• Orange #ff8c00
• Yellow #ffed00
• Green #008026
• Blue #004dff

You can adjust the Stops to further refine your gradient. Click New to save your gradient as a Photoshop preset.

Step 7

To create a ROYGBIV rainbow gradient background, select the Pride rainbow preset you just created, or repeat the same steps using the colors:

• Red #ff0000
• Orange #ffa500
• Yellow #ffff00
• Green #00ff00
• Blue #0000ff
• Indigo #4b0082
• Violet #8a2be2

2. How to Create a Rainbow Photoshop Effect

Step 1

Select one of the rainbow gradient backgrounds we created above; I’ll be using the Pride rainbow gradient.

Choose the gradient and press OK.

Step 2

Adjust the Style, Angle, and Scale to fit your photo. My settings can be seen below, but they will depend on the image you are using and what color you’d like to appear most dominant.

Step 3

Finally. set the gradients’ layer mode to Screen and a 50% Opacity. This will create a beautiful rainbow overlay in Photoshop.

That’s It! You Know How to Make Colorful Gradients in Photoshop

That is all there is to creating a rainbow gradient in Photoshop. Input as many colors as you like, or try playing with the different positions of the color Stops to get several different effects. And then you can save each gradient to create your very own custom set of rainbow gradient presets and rainbow overlays in Photoshop.

Esparza, A. (2023). How to Create a Rainbow Gradient in Photoshop: Envato Tuts+. Retrieved from https://design.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-create-a-rainbow-gradient-in-photoshop–cms-39494