Fantasy World using Photoshop

[SkinnyKazoo]

I dont know how it escaped mayb I put in a different layer....i will have to look in on that..thanks for the catch

[SkinnyKazoo]

Alright so the circles on the arctic continent were part of the land layer for some strange reason and not the layer where i did my color adjustments. So i think ive pretty much solved that problem and ive also inserted names for capitals. On a side note, all country and capital names are Greek or resemble Greek because this was the Ancient language that the people on this continent spoke, the newer cities and towns will be in English and reflect what i will simply call the Common Tongue that is spoken currently. Any more tips or hints are more than welcome because this is turning out better than i had imagined.

[Ascension]

Just two things from me, do them if ya want or not. 1. I'd still erase more of the bumps leaving most of the land relatively flat, just keeping hills near the mountains and maybe a splash here or there. 2. Duplicate the mountains layer and it will be more dynamic...plus you can fiddle with more layer styles there like a brown inner glow, green outer glow, different bevel, etc.

[SkinnyKazoo]

Ive tried to get rid of the hills but the attempt failed, however I do agree with you. As for the mountains that is an excellent idea thanks alot!

[SkinnyKazoo]

Alright so here is an update on my map. I added names for the cities (most of which I am proud of and do have local significance for why they are named that way). I added another layer on the mountains and holy crap it really brought them out, and I think I smoothed the land somewhat but I'm not clear on how large of a change I've actually managed to create. So here is the latest version up for your critique and comments!

[Seretur]

I don't know exactly what you're trying to accomplish with it, but the sea bevel is irritating me in places, especially around Bekko. It may just be me, but it looks like the sea actually bevels down as it comes to the coast, not up. So it looks like the whole island system of Bekko is below sea level. There are other places it does that, but Bekko is the most noticeable.

[LordJR]

As unique as the stars are, I'd prefer to see some temples, walled cities, and villages. Or just different colored dots/circles to denote the city type.

[HandsomeRob]

I don't know exactly what you're trying to accomplish with it, but the sea bevel is irritating me in places, especially around Bekko. It may just be me, but it looks like the sea actually bevels down as it comes to the coast, not up. So it looks like the whole island system of Bekko is below sea level. There are other places it does that, but Bekko is the most noticeable.

Shading should be from the northwest, not from the southeast.

Also, it looks like there are significant gaps between your political polygons - I would close them up, and also align the political polys to the rivers when the border is supposed to follow a river. They are close but not quite coincident and it ends up looking a little messy.

[Ascension]

Seretur, in the tut the light source is in the lower right of the screen and not the ubiquitous upper left. On our earth a lower right position is in tune with a morning sun in the northern hemisphere while the upper left would be a sunset in the southern hemisphere. A morning sun is much brighter than a sunset and the sunset would require warmer colors like reds and oranges (which I don't like for atlasy maps). When viewed that way the bevels are just fine...I'm a stickler for accuracy in my tuts and not convention But, should he desire to, he can re do the mountains with the light in the upper left on the filter and the bevel light source in the upper left...small changes that should only take a few minutes.

[SkinnyKazoo]

Alright, so I reduced the sea shelf opacity so that might have eliminated the problem of the islands appearing to be underwater. I've also cleaned up the borders and they look alot better; I changed the stars on the capitals to a blue color because I don't think I like building symbols all that much. When I add in towns or villages I will use a color other than white or blue, thanks for the suggestion. The map is coming out quite nicely, if anyone has any other suggestions I'll be glad to hear them before I finish this map and start writing the country histories and backgrounds.