Realistic Planet

I love the outer space! Planets and stars have charmed me since I was a baby when I dreamed of becoming an astronaut. Having become a web designer instead of taking up that noble profession, I decided to compensate by creating digital planets in Photoshop and marveling at my artistic talent.

If you share my passion for other galaxies, youll enjoy this tutorial. It has many steps, but results in a great spectacle, I think.

Create a new 800x800px document.Select the Elliptical Marquee tool (M). In Marquee Options set style to Fixed Size, Width and Height to 750. Then click anywhere to create the selection and drag it into the center.

Create a new layer (Ctrl+Shift+N) and give it the name "Water". Go to Filter > Render > Clouds. Now go to Filter > Distort > Spherize {Settings: Amount - 100; Mode - Normal}. Lock the layers transparency by clicking on the small checkerboard icon in the layers windows. Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur {Radius : 50}

Go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation (Ctrl+U) {Colorize : Yes - Hue : 218 - Saturation : 25 - Lightness : -20}

Create a new layer and give it the name "Land". Select the layer "Land" and Ctrl + Click on the water layer. Press "Q" to enter the "Quick Mask Mode". Go to Filter > Render > Clouds. Then Image > Brightness/Contrast {Contrast : 100 - Brightness : May range from -20 to 20 according to the size of the land}. Press "Q" again to get out of the "Quick Mask Mode".

Press "Ctrl+Shift+I" to inverse the selection. Go to Filter > Render > Clouds. Go to Filter > Render > Difference Clouds {Press Ctrl + F until you get a balanced texture, usually 1 time}. Edit > Fade Difference Clouds { Opacity : 50 - Mode : Normal}. Ctrl + Click on the water layer again. Now go to Filter > Distort > Spherize {Amount : 100 - Mode : Normal}. Go to Filter > Render > Lighting Effects and use the settings below. Then Ctrl+Click the "Land" layer. Select > Modify > Contract (2 px). Press "Ctrl+Shift+I" to inverse the selection. Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur {Radius : 2}. Press Ctrl+D.

Now create a new layer (Ctrl+Shift+N) and give it the name "Clouds". Select the layer "Clouds" and ( Ctrl + Click on the water layer). Go to Filter > Render > Clouds { Don't worry if the planet is hidden }. Change the layer "Clouds" blending mode to "Screen". Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast { Brightness : -50 - Contrast : 30 }. Now select the "Elliptical Marquee tool" and set it's style to "Normal". Now create a small oval shape (around 1/3rd the shape of the water layer) anywhere inside the clouds layer. Select > Feather (60 px). Filter > Distort > Twirl (180 degrees). Press Ctrl +D.

Go to Filter > Render > Lighting Effects and use the same settings but (White is High : Yes - Height : 30~40). Ctrl + Click on the water layer. Filter > Distort > Spherize {Amount : 50 - Mode : Normal}.

Now your planet should look like this

Click on the layer "Land" and drag it to the New Layer button to duplicate it. Click on the "Add Layer Mask" button in the layers window. (The one with a small circle inside a rectangle). Filter > Render > Clouds. Image > Brightness/Contrast {Brightness : 0 - Contrast : 70}. Now click on the "Land Copy" layer {Click on the thumbnail of the planet !!! not the cloud in the layers window}. Go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation {Colorize : Yes - Hue : 139 - Saturation : 25 - Lightness : 0}.

Click on the "Land" layer. Go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation {Colorize : Yes - Hue : 35 - Saturation : 40 - Lightness : -30}. Click on the Background layer, Press D and then Press Alt+Backspace. Filter > Noise > Add Noise { Amount : 70 - Distribution : Uniform - Monochromatic : No }. Edit > Fade Add Noise > { Opacity : 50 - Mode : Dissolve }. Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur { Radius : 0.5}. Image > Brightness/Contrast {Contrast : 100 - Brightness : according to the number of stars}

Create a new layer just above the background and go to Filter > Render > Clouds. Select the blending mode to "Screen" and "Opacity" to 50. Go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation {Colorize : Yes - Hue : 238 - Saturation : 15 - Lightness : -15}. Press Ctrl + E. Now your Planet should look like this:

Don't you think it lacks something??

Select the layer "Land Copy" and press Ctrl+E twice to merge the three layers. Select the layer "Clouds" and press Ctrl+E. Now you should have two layers only. Select the layer "Water" and apply the following layer properties to it.

Now it looks beautiful. Thank you for your patience.