How to make a little planet photo

A little planet is a panorama wrapped round into a circle, so the ground becomes a tiny globe with the sky all round it. Paint by Zaweba makes one with Filter > Distort > Panorama Projection, which includes a little planet projection. Open a wide panorama, run the filter, choose little planet and the photo curls up into a world of its own.

The effect is a form of stereographic projection, and it works best with a full 360 degree panorama, where the left and right edges meet. A narrower panorama still works, but leaves a visible gap where the ends don't join.

What you need

A wide panorama, ideally a full circle. You can stitch one in Paint by Zaweba itself with File > Automate > Panorama, which joins overlapping photos and can fill gaps with Smart Fill. The program is free and works offline on Windows.

Panoramas taken from a fixed point, with the camera turned on a tripod or held steady while you turn on the spot, give the cleanest planets. Open landscapes, city squares and beaches look great. Very close objects near the camera tend to stretch strangely.

Preparing the panorama

Straighten the horizon first. A tilted horizon makes a lumpy planet. The Crop tool's Straighten line is quick for this.

Make the left and right edges match. If they don't quite meet, the join will show as a seam running out from the centre of the planet. Wrap-Around Mode helps: it shows the artboard repeating, so you can clone and heal across the left and right edges as if they were joined.

A ratio of about 2:1, twice as wide as tall, suits the projection. If your panorama is very wide and thin, add sky at the top with Canvas Size and fill it so the planet has enough sky around it.

Step by step

With the panorama ready, choose Filter > Distort > Panorama Projection and pick the little planet projection. In this kind of projection the ground gathers in the middle and the sky spreads round the outside, which is what gives the globe its shape.

Apply it and look at the result at full size. If the horizon wobbles or the join shows, undo, fix the panorama and run the filter again. It takes seconds, so it pays to try a version or two.

Finishing touches

The centre of the planet often shows a smudge or a tripod. Clone or heal it away, or put something there on purpose, such as a small tree or a person standing on top of the world.

Sky at the outer edge can look blotchy where it was stretched. A soft vignette or a gentle gradient from the edges helps. Paint by Zaweba's Quick Looks include a Vignette, and its blur and noise filters can smooth patchy areas.

Crop the result to a square for social posts, which suits the round shape.

Getting a good result

Keep people and buildings well away from the camera when shooting, so they stand on the planet instead of bending round it. Even light all the way round makes the planet look whole. And pick a scene with a clear ground and an open sky, since those are what the effect turns into a globe.

Little planets are playful, quick to make and always get a second look. Paint by Zaweba has everything needed, from stitching the panorama to the final projection.