Little Planet Photos: 5 Easy Steps to Creating Panorama Worlds

Panoramas are among the best ways to demonstrate a scene. They contain a lot interest and detail they practically beg you to definitely explore them. This little tip adds an additional pinch of creativeness, turning standard panoramas into miniature planets that actually possess the “wow” factor.

The technical reputation for this method is “stereographic projection” try not to allow the name deter you – it is extremely easy to do and just takes a few minutes. I will be using Illustrator within this example but it can be done in many graphics programs, including GIMP, that is free.

Stereographic projection showing city buildings

Turn your panoramas into eye-catching miniature planets. Image by Benjamin Jopen.

Selecting a appropriate photo

Almost any panorama could be switched right into a little planet photo, but certain images have a tendency to are more effective than the others. Listed here are what you have to consider:

The viewing position – all over panoramas perform best as their edges fall into line perfectly, creating a seamless planet photo. Narrower angles could work but you might have to perform some try to match colours and textures in which the edges meet.

Image width – The aspect ratio (width divided by height) of the photo affects how smooth the earth looks. Wider images have a tendency to produce smoother planet surfaces, while narrower panoramas give more height variation. Both look great.

Heaven – Your panorama’s sky is going to be seriously distorted within the final image. A obvious sky has a tendency to produce the greatest results, although clouds can provide a fascinating, extended effect.

The floor – The foot of your photo is going to be squashed together to create the center from the planet, and this may lead to some extreme distortion. Just like heaven, a set colour or simple texture for example grass, sand or water looks best.

The horizon – This must be perfectly level therefore the edges from the picture meet nicely. If yours don’t you’ll be able to easily rotate and re-crop in Illustrator.

This may seem like lots of criteria to satisfy, but you will find that almost all panoramas is going to be appropriate. If uncertain, give it a try – smashing the above “rules” can occasionally result in strange effects that you simply wouldn’t have otherwise, so you shouldn’t be afraid to experiment.

If you are battling to locate a appropriate photo there tons freely available underneath the Creative Commons licence, similar to this selection on Flickr. I will be while using following photo which you’ll download here if you wish to follow along.

Panorama of Marktplatz, Halle

This is actually the photo I will be using. Image by Rudolf Schuba.

Making your planet

Got your image? Good. Time for you to transform it into a planet.

  1. 1. Result in the image square

Due to the way stereographic projections are created, we have to begin with a square image. Visit Image > Image Size. Uncheck “Constrain Proportions” and hang the peak to complement the width.

Make your photo square with Photoshop's Image Size tool

This will squash your image and make it look distorted. Don’t worry, this is normal.

Panorama image squashed to a square
  1. 2. Use a sky gradient

Ths step is optional and can avoid the corners from the final image searching extended and warped.

Choose the gradient oral appliance set the right and left colour sliders to complement the dominant sky colour. Set the left-hands opacity slider to 100% and also the right-hands someone to 0%.

Photoshop's gradient tool controls

Drag a gradient from the top of your photo downwards a little distance, to produce a smooth transition to the solid colour.

Adding a gradient to a photo

3. Turn the photo upside lower

Use Image > Image Rotation > 180 degree to switch your image upside lower. This ensures it wraps the proper way whenever we transform it into a planet.

Upside down panorama

4. Use the Polar Coordinates filter

Visit Filter > Distort > Polar Coordinates. Make certain “Rectangular to Polar” is chosen striking “OK”.

Photoshop Polar Coordinates filter

Voilà;! Your panorama has become wrapped right into a circle and appears just like a little planet photographed previously mentioned utilizing a fisheye lens.

Little planet photo made in Photoshop

5. Finishing touches

Look into the upper center of the photo to help make the sure things look smooth in which the panorama’s edges were became a member of. Make use of the Clone Stamp or Healing Brush to repair any problems.

If you love your planet to become a different way round, this is the time to rotate it. This can leave white-colored corners, however, you can fill individuals with similar colour you employed for the gradient. Re-crop your image and you are done!

The final little planet photo

Our finished planet photo.

Creating little planet photos is very easy when you get used to it. You are able to produce some fantastic effects by experimenting, so do not feel you need to stick rigidly towards the above instructions. If you discover any interesting variations then please share them within the comments.

Examples and inspiration

Listed here are a couple of examples showing what’s possible whenever you combine this method with some creativeness and imagination.

Little planet image of rocky mountains

Make use of a photo with varied terrain to produce a jagged asteroid effect. Original image by Victor Engmark.

Stereographic projection of Florence

Include structures up to the foreground to create a densely populated planet photo. Image by Carlos de Paz.

Stereographic projection of night time panorama

Shoot your panorama during the night to provide the consequence of planet floating wide. Image by MyPlanet 360.

Inside out planet photo with sky surrounded by buildings

Skip step three to produce an “thoroughly” planet photo that appears like you are laying on the floor searching up in the sky. Original image by Christian Holmer.

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