This tutorial tries to explain to you how to create your own craters on planets PhotoShop.

It is very important to understand that there are many ways of doing things PhotoShop and not only that I explained here. The aim of this tutorial is to give an idea of what can and can not dictate how it should be. I encourage all who read this tutorial also experimenting on their own in addition to simply follow the tutorial. Aim to meet the program’s tools and try to reach the same result with their own techniques. Also I will try to explain “why” of the individual steps. So please do not just blindly follow all the steps, if not try to think about each step carefully and try to really understand what is happening and what is supposed to achieve.

With this in mind, let’s get down to business …

Step 1: Basic form and outline

Open Photoshop and click on File -> New. Create a new canvas with a width and height of 400 pixels. Alternatively you can use a higher resolution. Set Foreground color to white and the background a little gray. The code I used was “5a5a5a.” Press Ctrl + Shift + N to create a new layer. Name it “base.”

In principle, we must see the general shape of our crater. The craters are usually round it makes things easier.

Click the Marquee tool (M). Put it in elliptical right clicking once on the icon and select the Elliptical Marquee Tool. ”

Now create a selection in the center of your canvas. Make sure you have enough space on the sides.

Fill the selection with white by pressing Shift + Backspace and press Enter, but do not deselect yet. The white circle marks the area inside the crater, which has a light opposite to the area around the crater.

Now let’s get the selection by 1 pixel. To do this Click Select – Modify> – Collapse>. Type “1″ in the dialog box and accept. You’ll hardly notice a change in the canvas, but the selected area is exactly one pixel smaller on each side. Next, erase all that is in this new selection, with the tool “Draft” or press Delete. You will stay with a thin white ring.

Deselect.

Note:
This ring is the basis for the outline of the crater. Is the most enlightened and higher, that is why it is white. However, a crater is not perfectly circular so that will add a touch more irregular in the next step to deform the ring slightly. In view of profiled, then the red dots mark the area you just created.

Step 2: Doing irregular

Well, now we have the boundary that marks the core area of our crater. Press “Ctrl + N Shift + +” to create a new layer and name it “scheme.”

Now take the Brush Tool (B). and configure the width of the Brush to 1 pixel on the menu “Options” Panel. In the layer “Outline” draw a circle in hand with the brush and it is not perfect. Use the layer “base” as a guide. Make sure the circle is completely closed (this is important for the next step.) The goal is draw very imperfect circle look round yet. You do not want it to look oval.

Step 3: Inner Shadow

Now let’s see first a little enlightenment. To clarify the way the light falls on a spherical object of a profile view can be very useful.

First hide the layer “base” so it will not now. Now take the “magic wand” (W) and select the layer “outline.” Click inside the circle. Space is selected within the scheme. Create a new layer and name it “Inner Shadow.” Place under his cloak “Scheme”

Now take the Gradient Tool (G) and Panel Options select “Radial Gradient”. Also configure your foreground color to black and let the background color of the gray 5a5a5a. ” Now make a gradient in your selection that extends from one end of the schema to another. Your canvas should now look like the image # 6.

Step 4: Shadow Foreign.

Once done, let’s move to the area outside the crater. Select the “Profile” layer once again take the “Magic Wand Tool (W). This time, click outside the circle. Your selection now covers only the area on the canvas outside the body of the crater. Press Ctrl + Shift + N and name your new layer “shadow outside.” This layer must also be included under the layer “Outline.” Then we will pull a gradient in the same way as before, only this time we will not use a background color. So take the “Gradient Tool (G) again, but this time click the drop-down menu panel Options and select “front-transparent color.”

Now click and drag along the black line that appears in the picture no 7.

Do this twice. Clear. Now it should be something like the image nr.8.

You may want to erase a bit of black on the sides with the eraser tool (E). Be sure to use a soft brush with a hardness of 0% for this. I used one with a diameter of 150 pixels.

Note:
What we have now looks a bit like a crater. It’s time to explain how this is going to be adapted to the shape of a planet. What made this tutorial lighting is to create a crater. So if you put it on a planet is mixed with the texture. Gray represents, in general, the lighting of the texture. The black shows where the crater casts shadows. Then we add some white to mark the parts that are more enlightened than the rest of the texture.

Take a look at the profile view of enlightenment. We care to shade parts of the crater (with some fine tuning.) What remains are the highlight.

Step 5: more lighted areas

Create a new layer and name it “highlights areas”. Select the layer “Outline” (which should still be in the top). Take the tool “magic wand” (W) and select the area outside the crater. Now set your foreground color white and take the “Gradient Tool (G) again. Keep the settings from step 4 and pull a gradient along the white Nr.9 image. Do this twice.

Now select the inner area of the crater. Create a new layer with the name “Star Inside” and fill in white (Shift + Del). Do not deselect yet, take the “Tool Frame” (M). Click inside the selection and drag a bit in the direction given by white Nr.9 the image. Your canvas should look like the image Nr.10.

Now you need to soften the selection. To do this click on Select -> Modify -> Soften and type “30.” Click OK. You will notice that your selection has become perfectly round. Make sure you are still working on his cloak “Star Inside” and press backspace 4 times. Clear.

You will have deleted the white on the inside of your choice. Having softened selection 30 pixels and in advance has the effect of having no hard edges. The target is removed gently without hard edges to simulate the dispersal of light. Nr.11 image shows what happened to me after completing step 5.

If you have not saved your work, better do it now.

Step 6: Too Clean

Well, now we have the base of the crater made. The next thing to do is make the thing seem more real. This step will give you a little more randomness. It still looks too much like a plastic button. Create a new layer above the layer “Outline” and name it “Outline Detail.”

Now take the brush “(B) and attach a diameter of 1 pixel in the”Panel options. Your foreground color should still be white. Now just try to make the “Scheme” look a bit more random. Work with the brush to create denser parts and undulations. You have to make a zoom on image to do this. You can work with a 5-pixel brush with 0% hardness and set the opacity of the brush about 10%. You can do all this in the panel of options.

After finishing with the 5-pixel brush resize to 45 pixels and OPIC brush to 2% (all done in the options panel).

With this brush you want to work only inside the crater, so take the “Magic Wand” (W) and select the inside of the crater by clicking inside the crater in the layer diagram. ” Do not forget to re-layer “Details of the Scheme” before starting to work again. If you want to play some more, try different brush sizes, but beware of exaggerating node, otherwise it will be too small shadows in its crater. In the picture no. 12 can see how the crater could occur after the retouching.

For the grand final try to paint a little relief, as set out in the crater. There are no rules right here, making it difficult to give specific instructions. But in general I recommend a brush with an opacity of 10% or less and a variation in the size of the brush about 65 to 1 pixel. Be sure to use Brushes with 0% hardness. Also check the space inside the crater with the “magic wand (W) to avoid affecting the edges. (Once again: do not forget to return to the appropriate layer). If you feel confident enough you can take” Smudge tool (R) and use that resource as well.

No Image. 13 shows how our crater is complete. Save a JPEG copy.

Step 7: Putting it on a planet

Welcome to the last stage where will the crater on the surface of a planet. I recommend a planet with a very subtle texture that does not stand out much. Here you can see the planet I’ve used. Is my image “Moonlands.”

Now open the JPEG image of the crater, copy it over the layer of the planet. Normally do not mix very well.

While the crater layer is selected, press CTRL + T to transform it. Hold the mouse off the layer. Now click and drag to rotate the crater so you can see in the image on the right. Do not press Enter yet …

… and give a rectangular shape as seen in the image. Once this is done press Enter to confirm the transformation.

Note:
Depending on where you want the crater has to leave the square. This crater is to be placed in the top left of the planet. If you want to put it exactly in the middle it obviously has to stay square. The closer to the edge of the planet, more will have to deform.

Make sure the layer of the crater is selected and change the blending mode of it to “Overlay.” To do this, click the dropdown menu in the Layers window, where it says “normal.” It will provide a list of blending modes. Hover your mouse over the “overlap” and click. Its crater should now look like the photo on the right. You can then movel a bit to better match the spherical surface of the planet. (Move a little towards the top left)

You will notice that the crater is now combined with the texture and color of your planet. Anyway should still be able to distinguish the square edges around its crater. To get rid of this press CTRL + L to enter the dialog levels. ” Now move the slider middle right or left until you see the border disappear. If you can not make the border disappear completely, zoom and just delete the edge with a soft eraser.

If you are unhappy with the location or size of the crater can move a bit and maybe change its size by pressing CTRL + T again. To maintain the proportions of the crater hold down Shift while resizing. The image at right shows my final result.

More of a crater, just repeat this step a few times. I recommend that you make a variacipòn size and do not put in all the planet’s surface since the end result would be very monotonous.

Congratulations. Crater has created its own in Photoshop!