Scale and--

[Alex]

I am a little confused by the "first/second" number thing in your post and the link. By "first" and "second" numbers, you mean that "(1:--)" is the first number and always stays as 1, and that "(--:*Number*)" is the second number and can change, yes? I am curious as to why the smaller the second = more detail can be included on the map, but I'll re-read the links.

Should map scale be selected before map creation then, or can scale be applied after the map's creation?

As to "creating a map in Photoshop CS5 from another medium, like paper or a picture". You have a couple options:

Scan the plain paper map in with a scanner, save it as a png (pngs have good transparency support), then open up in CS5 and do your work. If a photo that's available on a flash drive/cd-rom/dvd, pull it onto the computer, open it in CS5 and do the same work. Otherwise, scan it in with the Twain feature (from your scanner), and voila!

Hope that helps,

How does one go about getting the land's shape to come out like the shape/edges of the maps, for example, generated in Saderan's tutorial? I have run a scanned image in through Photoshop but I cannot figure out how to do the next steps on an existing image...

Thanks again,

Alex~

[Silverleaf]

I am a little confused by the "first/second" number thing in your post and the link. By "first" and "second" numbers, you mean that "(1:--)" is the first number and always stays as 1, and that "(--:*Number*)" is the second number and can change, yes? I am curious as to why the smaller the second = more detail can be included on the map, but I'll re-read the links.

That is correct - the first number is always a "1". As to the 2nd number - the examples I'm going to refer to here are very simple (and not entirely accurate) - but are used to explain the difference in the last number of our scale:

Lets imagine you are flying up in a hot air balloon and you take a photo of a forest from 200 feet directly above it. The amount of detail in that photo shows individual branches, leaves, and perhaps even the ground beneath. That scale is 1:200 -and would be called a LOCAL map.

Now, take that same photo from 5000 feet up. While you can see that same forest, you can't make out individual branches, leaves etc. You can see MORE of the forest, but small details tend to fade away. That scale would be 1:5000 and would be called a REGIONAL map.

Go 30,000 feet up and take that same photo again. Now that same forest is a small patch, and details of it specifically blend in with the surrounding countryside. The scale would be 1:30,000 and would be called a CONTINENT map.

Does that help?

Should map scale be selected before map creation then, or can scale be applied after the map's creation?

IF your doing an entire continent - say the size of the United States - then the scale could be 1:250,000 - if however your doing a map that features a Castle and the surrounding village - then 1:5000 might be sufficient. But the short and fast answer I lean towards is it depends on the type of map your making. Once you know that, then you can decide what scale you need it to be.

What are the different types (these are brief examples)

Continental (a map of an entire continent)
Regional (a map of a village on the above continent, and its surrounding farmlands)
Local (a single blacksmith shop in the village mentioned above)

How does one go about getting the land's shape to come out like the shape/edges of the maps, for example, generated in Saderan's tutorial? I have run a scanned image in through Photoshop but I cannot figure out how to do the next steps on an existing image

If your referring to this tutorial:
http://www.cartographersguild.com/sh...%96-a-tutorial

Thats a solid question and I'd check the thread in question for a possible answer - maybe even asking the question in it- or Private Message Saderan himself and ask. I don't use Photoshop, so I'm less than useless when it comes to handing out advice on it. I'm sure others will chime in that can answer your specific questions soon.

Hope that helps,