Westcrown - After-the-Fact WIP

[Ashenvale]

I decided the heightened contrast and drama of the evolving map had begun overwhelming the tags. So I stroked them with black.

Let me be more specific. I first duplicated all of the separate tag layers and then merged these new duplicate layers into a single layer combining all of the tags. I then clicked my Magic Wand Tool outside the tags area (thereby selecting everything EXCEPT the tags). I inverted the selection to select the tags instead of the empty space around them, using Select/Inverse. I chose black as my Foreground Color and stroked the selection (put a line around it) using Edit/Stroke. In the Stroke drop-down window, I set the width of my stroke as 3 px (if memory serves) and the Location as Outside, so that the Stroke function drew its 3-pixel-wide line outside the existing selection of letters.

I'd now outlined my tags with black. But the outside edges of the black outline were clunky and sharp in places. So I decided to blur them as follows.

I duplicated the merged tags layer with its new black stroke, and pasted the duplicate layer UNDERNEATH the existing merged tags layer with stroke. I blackened the letters and strokes on this lower layer. To do this, I used Image/Adjust/Hue-Saturation, and I pulled the Lightness slider all the way to the far left. I then blurred this layer with Filter/Gausian Blur. The soft, blurred edges of this lower level expanded out from underneath the original merged, stroked tag layer above it, seeming to soften the edges of the higher layer.

I painted in the three waterfalls in white, using my Brush Tool. I built and added a rose compass (too complicated and dull to describe here). And I added more contrast to both the woods and swamp, eachon its own layer. Here's the result.