► Step-by-Step Guide "Little Planet" Photo manipulation using Adobe Photoshop. Quick and Simple

Ever wondered how an image like this is created.......?

Image properties
Camera: Apple iPhone 5s Back Camera. 8MP
1/2500s | f 2.2 | ISO 32
No. of Images stitched: 37
Processed in Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom.
HQ Image link at Flickr: Click Here

I am always curious about some photo manipulation in Adobe Photoshop/Lightroom. Though this specific one attracted me more because it looks great when properly created but the process is super simple.

This is actually a simple wide angle image or a Panorama which is "bent" and joined to form a Sphere.

Here is a step by step direction to do the thing.

1. Take multiple images which will help to generate a good quality Panorama. ( Click here to read about Panorama).
2. Stitch the images in Photoshop. Go to: FILE - AUTOMATE - PHOTOMERGE. 
3. Browse and Load the Images ( 37 images in my case ).
4. Select "AUTO" mode in "LAYOUT" panel. Keep BLEND IMAGE TOGETHER checked. And VIGNETTE REMOVAL and GEOMETRIC DISTORTION CORRECTION unchecked.
5. Click OK and let Photoshop stitch the images. (It may take time depending on the System configuration, number. of Image selected & total amount of Data being processed.) 
6. So, far it is just like creating a Panorama.
   Merge all the layers and generate the stitched Panorama.
7. After the Panorama is created Crop the area that you want to keep.
   Keep "DELETE CROPPED PIXELS" checked while cropping.
   The final Panorama is not ready yet to get converted into the 'planet'.
8. Copy / Duplicate the Layer ( Ctrl + J ).
9. Go to EDIT - TRANSFORM - FLIP HORIZONTAL to flip the Duplicate layer.
   Keep both the original and Duplicate Layer Visible ( Eye icon ON). 
10. So far so good and nothing new. Next steps ( ** marked ) are mandatory to do the manipulation.
11. ** In the final output, there will be a visible distortion line in the area where the two extreme ends (extreme right and extreme right) of the image are joined.
    That's why we have created a flipped duplicate layer.
    In the flipped duplicate layer add a LAYER MASK (Go to LAYER - LAYER MASK - REVEAL ALL).
    Select the Layer mask and apply a Linear Gradient at the very left portion to reveal a bit of the original image. This will make two extreme ends look similar and thus the final image will have lesser distorted joining line. 
12. ** Now for this specific manipulation the image needs to be 'Square'. To do so, Go to IMAGE - IMAGE SIZE (Not the canvas size) and put the same value in both Height and Width field. (Just copy one field into another).
    Now the Wide image is shrunk and became a square one.
13. Go to FILTER - DISTORT - POLAR COORDINATES.
    Keep Rectangular to Polar button selected.
    Click OK.
    The Rectangular image will get bent wrapped and joined to form a Sphere.
14. Use Healing Brush / Fill with Content Aware to get rid of the Joining Line distortion.
15. Do some adjustments in Photoshop / Lightroom as per requirement to get the best view and it is done.

The "Planet" is ready to share and make people amazed.

Happy clicking.