Thread: Photoshop users: Can you help me to get this tutorial to work?

It would probably help if he posted the image before he added any effects.
I think the same effect can be obtained by creating a pattern of the forest, make your forest selction the use the layer style pattern fill.
Apply a shading layer above it to give it some dimension and a beveled edge like he says to do.
just keep the forest layer on it's own layer.

I never had any success either with that one. If I get the time I'll go through it again tonight.

I'm getting there...the film grain, turn it into grayscale stuff is all unncessarry, I think you can do this with plain old noise. The trick is to delete everything but the pure black pixels and so long as they run in short and slightly rounded 'wiggles' you'll get the suggestion of treetops when you bevel them.

Devin, I can't see the similarity with your result and the tutorials...I'm probably missing something...

Oh, I hope you sort it. That looks lovely.

I posted a clarification for that tutorial a while ago.
http://www.cartographersguild.com/sh...-Photoshop-CS3
I didn't get exactly the same results as the original, but it's pretty close. I think a couple of tweaks are all it needs.

This is pretty close isn't it? If I'd spent time tarting up the edge and performing some bevelling of the underlying layer to show hills I think it would be pretty good.

I did it up to where it says "Create new Solid Color layer with desired green" and then I ctrl+clicked on the layer and filled it with green.
I didn't copy/paste anything to the underlying layer. I just performed the bevel on the layer that has been worked on. If this is in any way correct there is no need to duplicate the layer at the start. Unless you want some little black dots poking through the trees. Which is maybe what he means with the copy/paste and then gblur.

Edit: Oh, and I forgot, I also had the bevel going down on this screenie. It would look better going up if the edges were sorted.

By gum, I think you've both got it (although Mid, yours has some speckly black bits in it)...not sure if that was just the render though. I don't know how I missed your tut Mid.

Ramah: I always thought the bevel was meant to apply to the individual trees rather than the shape as a whole though....I think you're really close. I'm in the middle of something else at the moment, but will come back to this using both your techniques.

Originally Posted by ravells

I don't know how I missed your tut Mid.

Well, you didn't, actually. You repped me for it. I didn't like the black speckles, either, but they didn't show up the first time I used the technique, so it was something odd that I did when I made that particular rendition of it. I probably clipped something when I beveled it. Also note the comments I made later in the thread about making it a smart layer so you can blur it nondestructively.

For a refresher on how I used it in a map, reference Mennin's Hallow: http://www.cartographersguild.com/at...3&d=1213894333

That wasn't perfect, though, since I screwed up and deleted part of it destructively, so I wasn't able to treat the edges as well as I wanted.

I think I've got there, it's not quite the same, but I think it's better. That's the good news. The bad news is that the only way I can do it is to use a 3rd party filter (constellation from the Alienskin Xenoflex 2 filter set). What the filter does is create randomly distributed white circles within a selected area. You can adjust the density, the initial size, the size variation and the edge density (unfortunately the last upward only; it would have been lovely to have the slider allow you to make the edges less dense so you could get the impression of scattered trees at the edge of the forest). You can also change the random seed number so it distributes differently with the other settings left the same. I filled identical selections on four layers each with bevel/emboss layer style with the circles. If I had done one layer which was 4 times as dense the bevel and emboss would have applied to overlapping circles, by keeping the layers separate each individual circle retains its own shape giving, (IMO) a more individual 'tree-top' feel. The top layer I didn't bevel and emboss (it just looked better that way). Here are 4 images with the layers being gradually added and the underlying pattern I used for the selection, although when I do it again, I think I'll apply the forest to the whole landmass and use a mask. I would probably also change the colour of the trees on some layers to add some variation.

So the 64 million dollar question is whether there is a native PS filter which can do what the constellation filter does (create randomly distributed circles with adjustable size) - cos if there is, I think we've found a really nice new way of doing forests.