Honestly I don't think the center shadow hurts the map what so ever. To me it adds a sort of realism. An actual dimensional quality. Anyways looking good so far . Looks like the rest of the process might be a challenge in the BOOK. I'll be waiting for updates on this . The size variance may have something to do with the resolution that is was scanned in at? I'm no expert any scanning successes I've had were all trial and error !