[Award Winner] A medieval town map tutorial in Photoshop

[pyrandon]

GRASS
Because our green "background" layer is a bit too flat, give it some life by creating a new layer above it called "grass". Fill that layer with an almost-white gray color, then run Filter->Artistic->Sponge, with settings around: brush size 3, definition 15, smoothness 4 (play with these to taste, of course).

Next set the "grass" layer's blending mode to "multiply" & down the opacity to 60-70% or so. (you may also wish to run a Gaussian Blur on it very lightly to downplay the edges.) [see image]


TREES
Of the many ways to add forests, I chose to use a seamless tile I previously created from a picture of some trees. And may I say that creating that one pattern was an amazingly useful project--I highly recommend you do the same! (You can easily be taught how to create both a seamless tile and how to define a pattern in about 10 minutes by doing an Internet search).

First click Layer->New Fill Layer->Pattern, and name it "trees"; in the next screen, choose your tree pattern at whatever scale you deem best. The entire image will instantly be covered with forests. Then use the paint bucket to fill the "trees" layer with solid black--all the forests will disappear.

Now with a white brush of your choice, draw wherever you want trees, and the trees will appear! I used a large brush to create forest areas and smaller brush to dab in individual trees; I also used some of the spotty brushes to break up the solid edges.

Now, your trees are placed, but they probably look very flat next to the other 3D-ish details of the map. So add a Drop shadow, Inner shadow, Bevel & Emboss (inner bevel, chisel hard) + texture set to the same tree pattern with which you filled the layer.

There you have it! [see image, below]


GROUND COVER
Finally, let's add some random shrubbery and ground cover. Create a new layer above the "trees" layer called "vegetation". Set layer style settings close to your "trees" layer [see my settings in the image, below].

Then choose a smaller stipple brush set to 40-50% opacity and fill. With various greens, browns, etc. either dab or draw in ground cover. Change brush tips, colors, and opacity/fill often for more detail and realism. (One note: the harder the brush & higher the fill/opacity, the taller the vegetation will appear, for the shadows and such will be more pronounced.)

You can even draw on top of the trees you just placed to lend them further dimension.
[see image below]

[ravells]

Superb tutorial Don! [delete this message if it interferes with continuity]

Ravs

[pyrandon]

The bulk of the grunt work is now done, so time to step back and assess. Most likely the first thing you'll notice is that the entire map is quite dark. The best way to lighten it up is adding an adjustment layer as the top layer in your stack (Layer->New Adjustment Layer); which type you choose is up to you: Brightness/Contrast is easiest, Levels allows a little more control, and Curves boasts most control but can be tricky.

You could also play with the color scheme in this same way by adding an adjustment layer for Color Balance. Even the Photo Filter can offer some interesting, subtle color effects.

Also, if colors look a bit too neon/pastel for your tastes, add an adjustment layer for hue/saturation.

This is really just the "play" stage, so try a few things to near your vision for your map.

Below is the before & after version of my map, showing the adjusted colors and brlightening.

[pyrandon]

FIELDS
First, I decided last-minute to add farm fields. I created a new layer called "fields" just below the "elevations" layer, set its blending mode to "overlay," and filled it entirely with a dirt-brown color. Then I ran Filter->Texture->Texturizer on it, set to canvas with high scaling (125%) and low relief (10). Then place a layer mask on it and fill with black so all the "fields" disappear.

Then use a white color to paint in fields where you want them. To finish them off, blur the mask a bit (make sure the mask is highlighted in the layers display, not the brown!), and play with Image->Adjustments settings such as brightness/contrast, levels, and color balance. If you wish, you can also blur the fields themselves, plus use stippling brushes to enter tiny little rows of crops, etc. Opacity of the layer could be adjusted too, to blend with the rest of the landscape a bit.


TEXT
Next choose a font and label your locations. When you're done, ctrl-click them all and Layer->Merge Down. Then place a layer style of drop shadow, making settings fit your tatses. I also placed a very slight guassian blur (3 px.) to soften the hard edges.

If you wish, you can also increase the canvas size (Edit->Canvas Size) and frame the map by creating and filling a new layer as the lowermost of the stack.


IMAGE SIZE
If you plan to print this map, size really will not matter: you'll print it to the largest size you can manage. If working in a digital environment only, think about how closely you'd ideally want the viewer to zoom. This style of map is not intended to be looked at through a microscope, thus I scaled my image down to 900px square; this way 100% zoom is the perfect, closest distance I'd like someone's eye to get a clear shot.


For all intents & purposes this is a finished, usable, "realistic" map! [see image, below] In the next post, though, I'll give some other ideas for post-production filters and fun tweaks to transform "Koppollex" into a more "artistic" map.

[Joshua_101]

Forgive me, but what font did you use to label your map? It looks great!

[pyrandon]

Now, the above style is perfect for a finished map, but I myself prefer to utilize the power of Photoshop's many filters to create a somewhat more "artistic" appearance. With filters the sky is the limit as to which look you choose for your finished map.

PRE-FILTERING
Before filtering do the following:

1. Group all your text (if in more than one layer) by ctrl-clicking them all, then clicking the "create a new group" folder in the layers window

2. In the same way also group the entire map ASIDE FROM your matte/frame. I named my new group "map elements".

3. Drag the group containing your map elements to the "create a new layer" button, which creates a new group. Then Layer->Merge Group. I renamed mine "map". This layer will serve as your copy-able map upon which you can run multiple filters; you will not change this layer.

4. Copy the new "map" layer and rename it "filtered map". This layer will be the actual layer you will filter.

5. Hide both "map elements" and "map", and lock all layers other than "filtered map".

[see image, below, for how your layers window should end up.]


FILTERS

The first is one of my favorites: poster edges. The layers are, from top to bottom:
1. Dry brush--very smudgy, set to 30% opacity
2. Poster edges, set darker/thicker. This was then Gaussian blurred up, & set to 30% opacity
3. Poster edges, thin & clean

The next is basically the same, but using the watercolor filter. This one is too smudgy to be used as a detailed location map, perhaps, but I think it has a pleasing appearance.
1. Watercolored with medium shadows & high detail, then blurred slightly. Layer set to "lighten" & 50% opacity
2. Watercolored with 0 shadow & high detail. Blurred only about 3 px.

These are two of a million varieties, my friends. You could even go back and filter individual elements or combinations of the original elements, such as I did with the third map. For that one I chose the basic roads, homes, elevation, river, rocks, & trees, copied them onto one layer set to "multiply", then Filter->sharpen->sharpen edges about 5 times. Then I ran the cutout filter. For the background I changed my black frame to brown & ran the texturizer filter as canvas. I also messed with opacity and doubled up a couple filters, but you get the idea.

There you are! I hope you found this tutorial at least mildly useful! Take care.

[pyrandon]

The font I used is called Aniron. It's Lord of the Rings-type font available here: http://www.thehutt.de/tolkien/fonts.html

[ravells]

I love the fellowship font. Great find, Don!