1. Filter> Render> Clouds
2. Image> Adjustments> Curves. Adjust the line to increase the contrast between the light and dark areas.
3. Image> Adjustments> Hue/Saturation. Select colorize and move the sliders to make blue water.
4. Use the Paint Bucket tool to fill the land in with a shade of green.
5. Select the land with the Magic Wand tool. Use the Brush tool with a shade of brown, and a low opacity to darken the edges of the land. Then select inverse, and brush the water with blue to get rid of some of the white clouds around the edges. Leave some to give the look of shallow water.
6. Here I just went to Image> Adjustments> Color Balance, and played with the sliders to make the colors more realistic.
7. I used the Burn tool to darken some areas of the land and water.
8. I adjusted the contrast a little.
9. Using the Brush tool on the land, try different brushes and shades to add forests.
10. Select an area with the Eliptical Marquee tool. Filter> Distort> Spherize. Amount=%100, Mode=Normal
11. Select inverse, and delete.
12. Use the Paint Bucket tool to fill the surrounding area with black.
13. Here I just rotated the planet some.
14. I used the burn tool again to darken the land and water a little more,
15. To add stars, you can check out my Outer Space tutorial.
16. With the planet selected, go to Blending Options, and add an inner shadow.
17. I increased the canvas size and moved the planet. (Image> Canvas Size)
18. On a new layer, Filter> Render> Clouds.
19. Lower the opacity of the layer.
20. Using the Eliptical Marquee tool, select a sphere on the cloud layer the same size as the planet. Filter> Distort> Spherize.
21. Select inverse, and delete the extra clouds.
22. Use the Eliptical Marquee tool again to select small areas of the cloud layer. Filter> Distort> Twirl.
23. Use the Eraser tool to erase the clouds on the shadow side of the planet.
24. Finally, merge the layers. Filter> Render> Lens Flare to add a bright star. This is a quick how-to on one way to create a planet. Take your time, add more detail, and you can create a very realistic planet.
