STEP EIGHT: Final Details
Okay, so now my anal-retentive side comes out, as I tweak ad nauseum to get this map up to snuff.
First in the Tiles layer I select the Eraser Tool and a medium sized (10 px), hard-edged brush, set to 10% flow, then trace around any hard, overly-crisp edges or other places I think could use some wear and tear. I then do this same with a larger brush and 20% fill, even tearing out a few spots to simulate ruin.
For some large scale erosion, I choose a fuzzy brush, a charcoal brush, or a splatter brush, and draw around with the Eraser Tool set to 10-20%. I usually do this is "sweeps" of light erasing, scraping away at the tiles, constantly zooming in and out to check both views so I don't get carried away in any one spot. [see Image 1]
Now when all the wear and tear is exactly how I like it, I save again under a different name, then Layer>Merge Visible. I then copy the layer with map twice by dragging it to the Create New Layer button at the bottom of the layers palette.
The middle map layer I switch to Multiply layer blending mode, play around with the Gaussian blur (about 2 px), then lower the opacity to taste (40% or so).
On the top map layer I run Filter>Render>Lighting Effects, and put wide, soft a spotlight on the upper left corner, playing with the settings as fits my eye. This layer I set to Soft Light blending mode.
Final tweaks are adding any Layer>New Adjustment Layers (such as color balance, brightness/contrast, and Hue/Saturation). I am a persistent fiddler, so this takes some time, and I won't tell you my settings because I have never been consistent at this point, choosing to leave things be only when the overall effect strikes my eye as correct. In general I can say I drop saturation and lightness down, since this seems more believable, and I do anything I can to kill neon colors.
I also added a few very light strokes of dark & light browns with various art brushes. Just for.
Image 2 contains my end result. I hope you found this tutorial was useful, interesting, or both. If you have any questions or refinements please go ahead and post them in this thread. Oh, and be sure to post your own mosaic maps here in the Guild so we can all admire your technique, too!
Take care!
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