Ever wanted to create planets? In this tutorial you’ll learn how to create a planet, and more importantly how to create planet textures. We will have a look at several different planets to see how they are created, and how to easily change the look of planets using layer modes

These are the planets we’ll have a look at, we will focus mainly on how to create that blue one:

Here is a larger preview of the blue planet we will create:

Read this if you want to save some time:

This tutorial is split into three parts, in the first part we create a basic planet with atmosphere and shadow, but with no textures. In the second part we create and place textures on the planet we made making it look like an actual planet (the fun part in other words), the third part is rather small and just gives you some planet making tips and a quick look at how to create some other planets.

So if you just prefer to read along, or if you’re already comfortable with making the basic planet and just want to learn about textures then you can download this xcf file and just read part1. The xcf file contains all the work we do in part 1 of the tutorial (except installing the script of course).

Part 1

Step 1

To make our task easier we’re going to use a script, you can download it here. (depending on your browser, you might need to either right-click and choose Save Link as, or click on the link and then choose File->Save as). If you can’t get that to work then download this zipped version of the script instead, remember to unpack it.

To install the script simply place the file called “planet-render-gtuts-edition.scm” inside your Gimp scripts folder.

• WINDOWS
  Place the script in C:\Documents and Settings\yourusername\.gimp-2.6\scripts

• UBUNTU
  Open your Home folder, then press Ctrl-H to see hidden files, place the script inside .gimp-2.6/scripts. Press Ctrl-H again to hide the files.

• MAC
  In Gimp go to Edit->Preferences.
  Select Folders, and then Scripts. In the window on the right it should say where to put the script. (in many cases there are two different folders you can put them in, it shouldn’t matter which one you put it in).

After the script has been placed inside the folder:
In Gimp go to Filters->Script-Fu->Refresh Scripts.

That’s it, now it should be installed.

Many thanks to Rore for making the script possible!

Step 2

Now go to File->Create->Misc->Planet render Gtuts.com edition.

Set the Planet size to 600, and make sure the Planet color is 0a4664.
The outer atmosphere color usually works best with white or a brighter version of the planet color, since our planet is blue we set the atmosphere color to a bright blue such as b0eeff.

Also set the sun orientation to 315, and untick the Add Glow box.

That should give us this:

Step 3

See that selection around the planet? We’re going to need it for a path so click on Select->To path.
It looks like nothing happens, but the path is actually stored in the paths dialog.

We also need another path from that as well, but we want it slightly smaller, so first go to Select->Shrink, and shrink by 1.

After you’ve done that go to Select->To path.

Now we have two paths, one slightly smaller than the other, we’re going to use them both later when we work on the atmosphere.

Just get rid of that selection we don’t need it anymore. Select->None.

Step 4

We’re going to customize our planet a little, we’ll start out with the shadow.

Delete the layer named “planet shadow”, and then create a new layer and name it “shadow”.

Use the Ellipse Select tool to create a circle about 800×800 covering a large portion of the planet like in the image below:

Now fill that selection with black. (by using the Bucket Fill tool).

Next, get rid of the selection. Select->None.
Then Gaussian Blur by 250. Filters->Blur->Gaussian Blur.

Set the opacity of the layer to 95, this will allow a little bit of the planet to shine through the shadow.

Step 5

Now we’re going to customize the atmosphere. I want it a bit smaller, and mainly focused on only one side of the planet.

To do this we’re going to add a Layer mask to the atmosphere layer so that we can control the opacity for different areas of the layer.

In the Layer Dialog, right-click on the layer named “planet atmosphere” and choose Add Layer Mask.
Set it to White (Full Opacity).

Now we need something to put inside that layer mask.
So duplicate the layer named “shadow” twice.

Your Layer dialog should look like this know:

Now merge our two new shadow layers into one. (Right-click on the top one and choose Merge Down). Change the name our new merged layer to “shadow mask”.

Select the “shadow mask” layer, and press Ctrl-C to copy it, then select the layer mask and press Ctrl-V to paste the layer into the layer mask, and then click on the anchor.

Make the “shadow mask” layer invisible by clicking on the eye, we will use this layer later.

The atmosphere could look a bit stronger, so duplicate the atmosphere layer, and reduce the opacity of the duplicate to 50.

Step 6

We need to remove part of the shadow layer since it goes outside the planet.
To do that first select the layer named “planet base” in the layer dialog.

Next, grab the Fuzzy Select tool and click once in the middle of the planet so we get a selection of it, after that invert the selection. Select->Invert.

Now we have a selection of everything except the planet.

Select the “shadow” layer in the layer dialog, and then hit the “delete” button on your keyboard.
Our image should look like this afterwards:

Get rid of the selection. Select->None.

Step 7

Remember those paths we made earlier? Well now we’re going to use them to add a little extra to our atmosphere.

Create two new layers, name them “line small” an “line large”. Make sure they’re both placed above the “shadow layer”.
Select the “line small” layer, and then doubleclick on the top Path in the Paths Dialog so it becomes active.

Next, set your color to c8ffff and click on Stroke Path.
Set the line width to 3.

Now Gaussian blur it by 3. Filters->Blur->Gaussian Blur.
Also, reduce the opacity of the layer to 50.

It should look like this afterwards:
(just click on a random tool to hide the path)

Now we’re going to do the same with the other path.
So select the “line large” layer, and doubleclick on the bottom path in the Paths Dialog to make it active.

Stroke it by 8.

After that you gaussian blur it by 12. Filters->Blur->Gaussian Blur.
Also remember to reduce the opacity to 50.

Next, add layer masks to both of those layers. (right-click on the layer and choose Add Layer Mask).

We’re going to use the “shadow mask” layer again as a layer mask, but we first need to make it a bit larger since “line small” and “line large” are a bit larger than the planet.

To make it a bit larger, first make the “shadow mask” layer visible, then duplicate the “shadow mask” layer once.

Now merge the two “shadow mask” layers into one layer.

After you’ve done that copy that layer and paste it inside the layer masks of our line layers.
Just delete the “shadow mask” layer afterwards, we don’t need it any longer.

Our image should look like this now, notice how the atmosphere and those lines we added are only visible on one side of the planet, that’s the magic of layer masks.

Step 8

A quick final touch before we proceed to part 2, add a new layer below all the other layers and name it “simple stars”.
Grab the bucket fill tool and fill it with black.

Next add some HSV noise. Filters->Noise->HSV Noise

Set Holdness to 8, Saturation to 50, and Value to 200.

That should give this result:

Part 2

The texture is the most important part of the planet, it’s basically what makes the planet look like a planet instead of just a blue ball. So what every planet needs is a planet texture, there are many ways to create a planet texture, but I prefer putting together bits and pieces from several photos until I have a result I like.

I’m going to show you how such a planet texture can be made, by using textures from CGTextures and Image*After.

Step 1

First of all I need to find some good textures, a good texture looks like it could be a satellite photo of the ground, so a photo of a dog might not be that good, but a photo of snow, rock, sand, concrete walls and rust can be good.

Another thing to keep in mind is that when you create a planet texture you should always use textures that are at least twice the size of your planet, this is because some of the work we do on the textures will make them loose quality, and therefore we need to scale them down afterwards to make them look good again. So in this case where the planet is 600×600, I had to use textures that were at least 1200×1200 in size.

After a quick look around the web I found four textures that I liked.
The following three textures are from Image*After, a website that has both free stock photos and free textures.

Click here to go to Image*After and get that image.

Click here to go to Image*After and get that image.

Click here to go to Image*After and get that image.

This one is from CGTextures, the world’s largest free texture site, I found it in the Ground -> Earth Rough category, they have some pretty amazing textures over at CGTextures, many of which are good for planet creation.
(I used the medium size, 1600×1200)

Step 2

Open all of the textures in Gimp.
Each texture has to be desaturated. Colors->Desaturate.

Also, choose one of the textures as the base texture, this will be the texture that is underneath all the bits and pieces from the other textures. I chose that third texture from Image*After, the one named “b5grounds057”.
The texture will also be our main image, the one we will do all the work on.

Now we need to crop the image so the height and length become the same.
The image is 2048×1536, so let’s make it 1536×1536, grab the Rectangle Select tool and create a selection that measures 1536 length-wise. (and at least 1536 height-wise).

Now click on Image->Crop to Selection. That should give us a square image.

Step 3

Create a new layer, I named mine “earth rough”.

Now select the Clone tool, set the brush to Circle Fuzzy (19), and the Scale to 10.

Select that image from CGTextures named EarthRough0023.
We’re going to set the clone source of the cloning, so hold in Ctrl and click a little left of the center of the image to use that area of the image as a clone source.

Let go of Ctrl if you’re still holding it, now find our base texture again, and select the layer called “earth rough”.

Now let’s paint on that layer, simply hold in your mouse button and move around until you have something like in the image below. Don’t worry if yours isn’t exactly like that, it doesn’t have to be exact.

Now repeat that whole cloning and painting process a couple times.
Set the clone source in different places on the earthrough0023 image to get some variation. Be aware that the clone source moves around when you paint, so you don’t want to set the clone source too near the edges of the earthrough0023 image, because then we could accidentally clone the edges, and that won’t look good.

Try to cover most of the image this way, leaving only a few spots here and there where our base texture can shine through. Don’t be afraid to paint over what you already painted, it really doesn’t matter. Try to avoid creating large dark areas or large bright areas.

Basically build up your texture by cloning and painting a lot:
(don’t worry if you can’t get your image to look exactly like mine, it doesn’t have to).

Then clone and paint some more until it looks like this:

Here is the same image with all the other layers invisible and with a black background so you can see more clearly what I did:

Step 4

Create a new layer, I named mine “cracks”.

Find the image named b17kinkyfriend049, this image is so large that I scaled it down so it matches the size of our other textures better.

To scale just go to Image->Scale image.
I set the size to 1357×1200.

Step 5

This time we want to copy specific pieces from the image, so we shouldn’t use the Clone tool, but rather the Free Select tool.

So grab the Free Select tool, enable Feather edges and set it to 25.
Then create a selection like shown in the image below:

Now copy that selection, and paste it inside the “cracks” layer. (press Ctrl-C to copy, select our main image and then select the “cracks” layer, press Ctrl-V to paste)

Use the Move tool to position it where it looks good, remember to anchor it afterwards (just click on the anchor in the layer dialog):

Now repeat that process a couple times, copy and paste different areas of the texture to the “cracks” layer.

Here is what my image looks like after some copying and pasting:

Here is the same image with all the other layers invisible and with a black background so you can see more clearly what I did:

Step 6

Same thing over again, create a new layer and name it “concrete wall”.

Find the image named b2walls034, and copy the parts you like over to the “concrete wall” layer. You can use the Free Select tool or the Clone tool or both, whatever you prefer.

I used the Free Select tool for some parts and the Clone tool for other parts, this is what I ended up with:

Here is the same image with all the other layers invisible so you can see more clearly what I did:

Step 7

The hardest part is over, now we need to get our texture on the planet.
First, right-click on one of the layers in the Layer Dialog and choose Merge Visible Layers.

Now go to Filters->Light and Shadow->Apply Lens
Select the “Make surroundings transparent” option.

That should give us this result:

You might notice that the texture looks a bit stretched in some places, we’re going to fix this by scaling down the texture. (this is the reason we work in so high resolution).

To scale the image, find Image->Scale Image.
Set the Width and Height to the same as the planet we made in part1, 600×600.

After the texture has been scaled down, press Ctrl-C to copy it.

Now find the planet we worked on in part 1, and create a layer named “texture” right above the “planet base” layer. Now press Ctrl-V and click on the anchor to paste our texture into that layer.

Step 8

We’re going to add some depth to the texture, so set the layer mode of the “texture” layer to Overlay, and then duplicate that layer.

Select the duplicate layer and rename it to “emboss”.

We’re going to emboss that layer, so find Filters->Distort->Emboss.
Set the Azimuth to 135, and the Depth to 2.
(Azimuth is basically the angle of the light in case you were wondering.)

Now you can control the depth of the planet by adjusting the opacity of that layer.
I want a very subtle effect so I set the opacity of the layer to 25.

Step 9

Duplicate the “texture” layer, and set the layer mode of the duplicate to grain extract.

We’re going to increase the contrast of that layer a little bit. So find Colors->Brightness and Contrast.

Set the contrast to 15.

Note that when you create your own planets you need to experiment with layer modes and contrast, this is very important since different textures need different layer modes to look good. The layer mode and contrast adjustments we just made will not necessarily work for all kinds of textures.

Step 10

Let’s add some clouds to this planet.
Duplicate the “texture” layer, rename the duplicate to “clouds”, and move it right underneath the “planet atmosphere” layers.

Set the layer mode to Screen.

Now adjust the brightness and contrast on that layer. Colors->Brightness and Contrast.

First adjust the contrast until the clouds look like clouds, and then control the amount of clouds you want by reducing the brightness.

In this case I set contrast to 90 and brightness to -90.

Now rotate our “clouds” layer 90 degrees. Layer->Transform->Rotate 90 Clockwise.
(or rotate it even more if you want to, always experiment and pick what looks best).

That’s it, our planet is finished:

Download the example xcf file

Part 3

Some things you should know when creating planets:

• If you don’t get the option to “Make surroundings transparent” when you use Apply Lens, you first need to add an alpha channel to the image. To do that simply click on Layer->Transparency->Add Alpha Channel.

• The most important thing to remember when creating planets is to experiment! Experiment with textures, colors, brightness and contrast, layer modes, and the opacity of the “shadow” layer.

  Especially layers and layer modes are worth experimenting with, as these can easily change the appearance of your planet, look at these examples:

In this one the “texture” layer has been duplicated, and the “clouds” layer is invisible:

Here the “texture” layer has been duplicated and the opacity set to 50, the opacity of the “emboss” layer is set to 60, there is no layer with Grain extract in this one:

Here the layer with the Grain extract layer mode has been duplicated, the “clouds” layer is invisible, and the “shadow” layer has been duplicated to make the shadow larger:

• Note that not all textures are suited for making clouds, if you for example create a very rocky planet texture it may look very good on the planet, but not necessarily that good if you try to make clouds out of it. What you can do is to make a separate texture for clouds.

• Also remember that you have to practice, it takes some practice to create a texture you like, and it takes some practice knowing how it will turn out when you’re done. While you are in the middle of building the texture you could merge the layers and Apply Lens to see what it would look like and what you need to improve. (take a backup of your texture first though, and save as xcf not jpg ).

A quick look at some other planets:

First planet:

This one is more like the moon than a planet, it’s made using this texture

I used the Clone tool to remove some of the rocks, other than that I didn’t do anything special with the texture. (only the regular desaturate, crop the image, Apply Lens and scale the image just like we did in the tutorial.)

The planet colors are a bit different in this one though, the Outer atmosphere color is white, and the planet color is 828282, the “line large” and “line small” layers are also white.

Here are the layer modes and opacity settings:

Second planet:

This is the same planet we made in the tutorial only I used brown/red colors in part1, and I didn’t use any clouds.

Third planet:

This planet is really simple, a lot more could have been done with it, but it’s only an example. It’s made using this texture

Just use some yellow/orange colors when you create the planet in part1.
This time the texture wasn’t desaturated because I wanted to keep those colors, the only special thing I did with it was to motion blur it and rotate it.

So to create that planet texture first download it and open it in Gimp.
If Gimp asks you if you want to rotate the image when you open it just choose “Keep orientation”.

Next, go to Filters->Blur->Motion Blur

Set the angle to 20, and the Length to 200.

Also, rotate the layer 180 degrees. (Layer->Transform->Rotate 180).

It turns out like this afterwards:

Put that texture on the planet (remember to crop, apply lens and scale first of course).

After you put it on the planet all that is left is to adjust Brightness and Contrast, set brightness to -80 and contrast to 15.

The layer modes on this one are really simple, in fact, it’s just one layer with layer mode Normal (and opacity is 100%):

Alright, that’s it, the end of the tutorial, tell me what you think in the comments.

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