50 Photoshop Tutorials For Sky and Space Effects

By Steven Snell

Humans have always had an infatuation with the air above us and the space around our planet. With Adobe Photoshop we can create new images or enhance existing photos to include the sky and space as a backdrop. There is virtually no limit to what can be done with some Photoshop skills and a bit of creativity.

As you will see from the tutorials featured here, some of the most entertaining and practical Photoshop creations and manipulations deal with the sky and space. Whether you are looking to make adjustments to the sky in the background of a photo or if you want to create an exploding space scene from scratch, Photoshop can meet your needs.

From this collection of tutorials you’ll learn all kinds of tricks that can be applied to your own work. Some of them are ideal for realistic photo manipulation and others are more suited for fun and experimentation. Take some time and explore the possibilities when working with the sky and space.

You may also be interested in some of our other collections of Photoshop Tutorials:

• Adobe Photoshop Tutorials: Best Of
• Adobe Photoshop Video Tutorials: Best Of
• Adobe Photoshop Tutorials: Rainbows, Glows and Light Effects
• 70 Beauty-Retouching Photoshop Tutorials

Space and Planets

Really Cool Eclipse Effect in Photoshop
Photoshop master Fabio Sasso shows you how to create this lighting effect.

Space and Planet Tutorial
Create a very cool look with just some simple Photoshop effects.

Make a Real Planet
Here you can learn how to easily create a fairly realistic planet.

Deep Space Nebula
Create a colorful nebula space scene.

Space Lighting Effect in 10 Steps
This tutorial shows a colorful, creative light effect ideal for space and dark backgrounds.

Space Scene Design
Create a scene of planets and lights by starting with a simple background image.

Painting Planets
Using a texture you can create a realistic planet.

Planetary Masses
Using brushes you can create a nice, textured planet.

Planetary Rings
Give a planet an extra touch with some simple rings.

Creating an Awesome Space Effect
This tutorial makes interesting use of some images for the space effect.

The Beauty from the Outside
A combination of images and Photoshop effects create this scene.

Alien Invasion Photoshop Tutorial
What is space without aliens? Learn how to add a UFO to a simple picture of the skyline.

Planet Tutorial
Create a planet pretty easily starting with a texture.

Explosions

Creating Fireballs and Explosions
Learn how to turn a typical roadside photo into an apocalyptic battle scene.

Create a Space Explosion from Scratch in Photoshop
Using no photos and a variety of effects in Photoshop, you can create this very realistic looking explosion.

Fiery Explosion
Another way to reate a realistic explosion with no images.

Fiery Photoshop Space Explosion Tutorial
PSDTUTS brings us more fiery goodness, this time starting with a simple downloaded image of a planet.

The “End of the World” Photo Manipulation
In this tutorial you’ll learn how to turn an ordinary picture into a cool apocalyptic image.

Explosion Effect
A gradient map and some simple effects are used to create this explosion.

Exploding Planet
Not a realistic type of explosion, but still useful for some purposes.

The Sky

Super Slick Dusky Lighting Effects in Photoshop
Turn a regular sunset photo into something special with this effect.

Vintage Clouds
An ordinary sky becomes a much more dramatic scene in this tutorial.

Ray of Light
Use rays of light with a silhouette-like photo.

Add a Realistic Rainbow to a Photo
Sometimes you may want to add a rainbow when there simply isn’t one in the photo.

Basic Graduated Neutral Density Filter
A subtle yet powerful effect for skies in photos.

Add Dynamic Lighting to a Flat Photograph
The sky in your photos can be drastically improved with Photoshop to create a more striking image.

The Orange Sky
This tutorial takes an image of the skyline as the starting point and gives it more character.

The Magic Night
This tutorial uses several different images to create this sky and the reflection on the water.

Warm Golden Sunsets with Gradient Maps
Turn an unspectacular sunset picture into something more special.

Clouds from Above
Clouds can be used for a lot of different types of work.

Mysterious Moonlit Landscape
A combination of photos and brushes are used for this tutorial.

Sleeping Sun
This fantasy art tutorial will help you to create an interesting image of a fairy.

Planet Integration Tutorial
This tutorial takes an image of a planet and implements it into a landscape photo.

Create a Starry Sky in Photoshop
Adding some stars to a sky is a practical trick that could easily come in handy.

Adding Fireworks to a Photo
Fireworks can be taken from one photo and dropped right into another.

Realistic Fog and Mist
Create realistic fog in just a few steps.

Quick Sunsets
Take a photo shot during the day and give it a sunset effect.

Create a Stunning 4th of July Collage
Using a few images you can create a festive collage.

The Soft Sea Light
Create a planet on the horizon of the sea.

How to Break Sunlight Through the Clouds
When working with images of the sky, adding a sunlight or ray effect can create a completely different look.

The White Tree
Create a more interesting and dramatic sky in the background of a photo.

Mysterious Lightning
This tutorial uses a few different photos to create the scene and some Photoshop touches for the lightning.

Illustrations

Mysterious Lighting Effect Tutorial for Photoshop
Create a dark, cartoonish sky scene.

Create a City Skyline
A fun, cartoon skyline.

Cartoon Sky
Create a simple cartoon sky that could be used for many purposes.

Creating a Fantastic Fantasy Night Sky in Photoshop
If you’re after the fantasy look as opposed to a photo-realistic look, this tutorial is for you.

Nature’s Sunshine
In this tutorial you’ll create a wallpaper of a fun sunset

Video

Creating Clouds
This video tutorial will show you how to create realistic clouds with brushes.

Space Planet Tutorial
Another helpful video tutorial that will show you how to create a space scene.

Create Stunningly Realistic Planets
This video will show you how to get the realistic look with Photoshop.

Related resources

You may also be interested in some of our other collections of Photoshop Tutorials:

• Adobe Photoshop Tutorials: Best Of
• Adobe Photoshop Video Tutorials: Best Of
• Adobe Photoshop Tutorials: Rainbows, Glows and Light Effects
• 70 Beauty-Retouching Photoshop Tutorials

About the author

Steven Snell has been designing websites for several years. He actively maintains a few blogs of his own, including DesignM.ag, which regularly provides articles and resources for web designers.