How to Create a Planet in Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop is often used for editing and enhancing photos, but it can also be used for creating realistic-looking images and other 3D shapes. All you need is a pre-made planet texture (easily found on stock photo sites like Morguefile.com, or user sites such as Deviantart.com). From there, you can take a planet texture and turn it into a realistic sphere using the program's effects.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Planet texture image

1. Open Photoshop and create a new document. For this example, we'll use a document size of 1,000 by 1,000 pixels. Also open the planet texture you wish to use.

2. Go to "Select" and click "Select All" with the texture image open. Go to "Edit" and click "Copy." Go to your new 1,000-by-1,000 pixel image and select "Edit" and "Paste."

3. Select the "Elliptical Marquee" tool from the tool panel. Hold down the mouse and the "Shift" key at the same time, and drag to create a perfect circular selection. Now go to "Select" and click "Inverse." Press "Delete" on the keyboard.

4. Go to "Select" and click "Inverse" again. This should select the circular image you now have. Go to "Filter," then "Distort" and select "Spherize." Repeat this filter until you are happy with the sphere look.

5. Click the "fx" icon on the "Layers" palette with the "Elliptical Marquee" tool still selecting the planet. Select "Inner Shadow" to create a more realistic 3D-looking planet. Select "Inner Glow" to enhance the look as well. Experiment with the settings until you get a look that suits you.

References

• Design Tutorials by E.D.E.