IX. Fields & Finishing
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.
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