So, I downloaded GIMP and gave a try to this planet-making business. Unfortunately, gimptalk.com seems to be down, so I couldn't get my hands on any relevant tutorials. So I was left on my own to discover all the tools. But that's not my biggest problem with planet making yet. It's about getting my atmosphere right.
My first planet looks like this:
I tried Herra's way (posted on the 1st page), but for some odd reason it doesn't work. Either I did something wrong, or simply misunderstood something. I did the following: Drew a black background with the Bucket Tool, and assigned it to Layer 1. Draw the planet (no clouds; Layer 2). Did the third layer: a gray circle 10pxs thicker than the planet's surface, set its opacity to 82%, and pulled it one level down in the layer hierarchy to be below the surface layer. What have I done wrong?
Well, the clouds are weird, too. If you can give me some advice on making clouds, please do so.
Thanks.
[EDIT]I found a tutorial. It works. The clouds are gone, because I forgot to make that layer visible when saving. I don't really mind. Look: