Hi folks,

I need some help with Photoshop. I have recurring problems with this fantastic tool.

  1. When I make my dungeon maps, I have a walls layer. I use a layer mask to mask the corridors and rooms. I then use a bevel and emboss effect to the layer to give an effect of relief. Unfortunately, this makes the edge of the image bevelled too. Is there a way to avoid this?
    Click image for larger version.  Name: Couloir_inondé.jpg  Views: 776  Size: 262.7 KB  ID: 39689
  2. I use a parchment layer along with a expanded and blurred layer mask to give the impression that the plan was drawn on a parchment. I would like to know if there is a way to have the layer mask automaticly produced from the layer mask of the walls layer?
    Click image for larger version.  Name: Plan général.jpg  Views: 229  Size: 1.53 MB  ID: 39688
  3. I use a series of layers to simulate the pavement of the floor. I have two layers, by default, because I like checkerboard patterns. I use a layer filled with solid white, along with a series of effects: inner shadow, bevel and emboss, color overlay, pattern overlay, satin and stroke. So, once again, I use bevel and emboss to have the pavement strike out. My problem is that this doesn't work quite well with stairs. My stairs steps are, by default, half a square wide. Unfortunately, this doesn't match beautifully with the pavement. I would like to have a method to make my stairs matching flawlessly with the pavement. Do you have a solution?
    Click image for larger version.  Name: Escalier.jpg  Views: 266  Size: 159.9 KB  ID: 39690
  4. I also make two kinds of plans. I have a general plan of the dungeons (72 dpi), and tactical maps of each room and corridor to run encounters (300 dpi). I cannot have a general plan at 300 dpi, my machine would not handle it. What kind of advice would you give to automatate the making of the tactical maps from the general one?

Thanks in advance.