V. Elevations & Shadows
The construction of this map is not 3D, although the end result hopefully shows some slight illusion of such. While there are a few ways of achieving a 3D "height map" in Photoshop (such as displacement maps), and while cartographers often demonstrate elevations by color (hypsometrically), I chose instead the extremely simple method of darkening lower elevations, then adding shadows.
Create a new layer above all others called “elevations,” and set the layer blend mode to “multiply.”
Choose a large, soft-edged brush of your choice (I like to use a textured one), set to around 10% opacity & 10% flow. Then...
• Color with black all elevation areas EXCEPT the highest "peak(s)" of the hill(s). [see image, below]. HINT: keep your mouse/pen held down for the entire painting of the dark color; this will maintain consistency with no darker overlapping. You can also run a Gaussian Blur on the layer if you notice overlaps or edges.
• Create another new layer above "elevations", set its blending to "Multiply", and repeat the darkening process, darkening everything but the next highest peaks of hills. Do this over and over so the lowest valleys are the darkest. [see image, below]
• Don’t be afraid to go dark! Later you can always lighten up with the opacity of the layer--or even play with the brightness adjustments, levels, and such.
• If you haven’t already, decide from which direction the light source is shining (in mine it’s upper-right) & then shadow on the opposite sides of hills, etc. This will add to the a sense of 3 dimensionality. [see image, below]
• Once done, merge all elevations layers. You may wish to play with the opacity of the "elevations" layer &/or run a final Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur.
• To create even more depth and interest, copy the final “elevations” layer on top of the original, then set the copy to a different blending mode (such as darken, color burn, etc.)
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