[Award Winner] My atlas style in PS

[Ascension]

No prob, man.

[sindustries]

Around page 22 or so someone mentioned a .zip file with Gidde's GIMP gradient file. I can't seem to find it anywhere though. Does anyone have it?

Thanks

I couldn't find a gradient file either. I worked around using a gradient by just creating a custom palette with the colors Ascension uses, and then just painting the colors onto the land color layer.

First, fill the entire layer with the dark green. Then, using a huge brush at 100% opacity paint in the white at the top where you want snow, and the desert color where you want desert! Then just select your smudge tool, set the opacity low, at like 25%, and smudge, smudge, smudge to create your gradient effects. I really liked the way it turned out. And this way you aren't limited to having the same color at the same lattitudes.

Gidde's GIMP conversion pdf (post 223 of this thread) should be included on the first page of this thread!!! I just discovered it yesterday and its a HUGE boon for us GIMP noobs.

I really want to go home and finish up what I had started last night and post my results... argh, stupid work.

[sindustries]

Here's what I have so far following through Gidde's GIMP conversion. Next step is to download RobA's tapered stroke plugin and give it a go with making some rivers.

[TotenMaus]

Awesome Tutorial, Ascension, but I'm having a terrible time trying to figure out what I'm doing in regards to steps 10-20. I get that you copy the ocean layer (ocean layer), and you link it to the base layer, but then you make a turn-around and say to merge down. I couldn't tell if you meant to merge the base and ocean copy layer down, the ocean copy and ocean layer down, or what have you. It made little sense to go through the work of linking it when I'm just about to merge them together. My best guess was that you meant to merge the base and ocean layer copy into one, of which then you tell me to copy that twice for the mountains and hills, screw around with lighting and difference clouds on those, and then tell me to copy the ocean again, when I already have the base+ocean copy merged layer. On top of that, you tell me again that I should still have my base layer, when I already merged it with ocean copy on step 20, where you simply lose me. Am I following perfectly or what? It doesn't seem very right when I need to do an extra step and do an extraneous function (renaming the merged "ocean copy" to base and the merge in the first place, after I linked them)...

Also, I think you doubled a step on your latest version of the tut, #'s 8 and 10. An older version omits the second duplication, and again, it seemed confusing to have 2 ocean copies where I never hear of the second one again.

8. Click back on the “ocean” layer (on the layers palette) and duplicate it. Grab a big airbrush and at the top of the screen reduce the flow to 10%. I start with the Airbrush soft round 300 and use smaller airbrushes as needed. Use black to define the ocean and white to define the land

10. When happy, duplicate this layer (it will be named “ocean copy”) and click on the “base” layer. Link the “base” and “ocean copy” layers together;

Feel free to berate me for being a terrible instructions follower.

[Ascension]

I haven't had any sleep tonight so let me read this sometime this afternoon and get back to you, otherwise I'm liable to make a mush of things trying to explain

[TotenMaus]

Take your time. I wrote that without much sleep as well.

[Ascension]

OK, step 10 should read "When happy link the base and ocean copy layers..." - there was an extra duplication in there so you were right about that. The linking is unnecessary, really, but if you don't link things then the names of the layers will be different from the tut and that could mess you up. For instance, if you don't link the base and ocean copy layers and then merge them the resulting layer will be called ocean copy instead of base.

[SSJPabs]

Is it possible for you to repost the images? When I try to open them it tells me I can't because it uses Word 97 and I've got Works 8.5

[Ascension]

Did you try the pdf? I actually made it on Open Office (free) so that would work as well. I'm not spending oodles of cash on MS Office and I deleted Works when I fired up the pc for the first time.

[The_Colorless_Mage]

Ascension,

I used your tutorial last night and came up with what is the makings of a really nice map. So thanks!

Of course...there's a "but..." attached. When I was first drawing the map, I made the mistake of making my landmass far too large (there's really little more than slivers of ocean surrounding it). Now that I'm at the point here I want to attach a compass rose and legend to it, this is a real problem. So my question: Do I need to basically start from scratch, or is there a way that I can add to the surrounding water easily?

Thanks in advance,

TCM