Creating a Planet in PhotoShop   Chong Ho Yu, Ph.D.   Copyright © God created the universe in six days. You can create one in a few minutes, too. The following tutorial shows you how. If you want to print these pages, please choose "landscape" in page setup.     Procedure Create a blue circle against a dark background. To make a perfect circle, hold down the shift key while drawing the circle. Then use the Paint Bucket to fill the circle with blue. Do not deselect the circle so that the subsequent painting will affect only the 'planet.' Use the Brush tool to paint light and darker blue colors on it. While still selecting the circle, use the Smudge Tool to blend the colors. Apply Filter/Blur/Guassian Blur to soften the edge. Set a small radius. Then apply Filter/Render/Lighting Effect to create the shadow. Adjust the settings in the Lighting Effect to what you like. Use various sizes of soft stroke to paint the 'stars' on the background. Then apply Filter/Render/Len Flare to create the 'sun' behind the 'planet.'   Navigation Index Simplified Navigation Table of Contents Search Engine Contact