Ever
wondered how it feels like to be a cartographer? Wonder no more! With
this tutorial you'll be able to make a unique customizable map quickly.
Starting from scratch, you'll make an old-looking map fit for a treasure
hunter! Now lets begin. Arghhhh!
Step 1
Open Photoshop, and create a new document. Then making sure your
brush's foreground is black and the background is white, create a Cloud
Render (Filter > Render > Clouds).
Step 2
Then Posterize the image (Image > Adjustments > Posterize), and
choose a level of 2. Congratulations! You've just created your landmass
in 2 easy steps. I've also renamed this layer "landmass" for tidiness.
Step 3
Then using the Magic Wand Tool (W), click on a white area and delete
it. Make sure that you've unchecked Contiguous in the wand's option and
set the Tolerance to 0 so that it will select everything white.
Step 4
Now to create the background. I began by hiding the landmass for an
easier view and creating a layer below it. Then I chose the Paint Bucket
Tool (K) and filled it with a dark brown. Here I chose #5C4D2B.
Step 5
Now to add some life into the background. With the Gradient Tool (G)
and light brown (#AB9E67), I created a light spot in the canvas. Don't
forget to set your Gradient Tool to a Radial Gradient.
Step 6
Now that we are done with the basic background, turn back on the
landmass layer. I've also changed the landmass from black to a dark
brown (#2A2415). To do so, just Ctrl-click the picture of the layer in
the layer palette and fill it (Edit > Fill).
Step 7
Using Photoshop's built-in shapes, I then created a compass in the
corner with a grayish brown (#7E735B) in a new layer. To find this
shape, choose the Custom Shape Tool (U) and find the compass. If you
can't find it try clicking the small arrow on the right of the box and
choosing All Elements and Shapes. Don't forget to press Shift when you
are drawing it so that it will expand to scale.
Step 8
Create another new layer above the compass layer. Now make some white
stripes across your canvas. To do this use the Rectangular Marquee Tool
(M) and create a long rectangle stretching from the top to the bottom.
Then fill it with white (#FFFFFF) (Edit > Fill). Do as many as needed
until the end of the canvas. Try to space them as evenly as possible.
Step 9
Now distort (Image > Transform > Distort) the stripes into a
ray of light. To distort, move the corner "nodes" of the box into
something close to a triangle (it should still have 4 points). Then
rotate the stripes into the corner. Make sure to bleed it out. Then
using a big fat soft round Eraser (E), erase the end of the stripes to
make the light fade.
Step 10
Now to blend it in with the picture, change the layer style to Soft Light and the Opacity to around 5%.
Step 11
Create a layer above the light layer and create another cloud. This
time instead of using black and white, use a dark and a light brown.
Step 12
Next set the new cloud layer you've just created to Color Dodge with a 42% Opacity to make some texture and light.
Step 13
Now we'll create the grid. First minimize your map document and
create a new document. Make sure that you select transparent for the
background (Under Contents, tick Transparent). For this tutorial, I
created a big grid with 100x100px, but whatever size you want will work.
Now using the Pencil Tool (N) set at 1px, draw a line on the right and
bottom side. Then select everything (Ctrl+A) and turn it into a pattern
(Edit > Define Pattern).
Step 14
Now with the new pattern you've created, paint a grid on a new layer.
To do so, choose the Paint Bucket Tool (K) then for the fill choose
Pattern rather than the foreground. Then when you open the dialog box
for the pattern, your pattern should be there. Then to make the grid
more subtle, change the opacity to 10%.
Step 15
We can now add more of an Old-World feel by darkening the corners. To
do this, create a new layer then use a big fat black Brush (B) and
brush evenly across the corner. Remember to only paint on the opposite
side of our ray of light. Then change the opacity of the new layer to
somewhere around 80% to make it more subtle. You may choose to stop here
to gain this kind of map effect. Or you can follow the next step to
intensify the effect.
Step 16
Now for the optional final step. Merge all layers (Ctrl+Shift+E) and
apply a Grain Filter (Filter > Texture > Grain). Choose Speckle
for the type of grain. You may modify the grain's intensity and contract
as you wish. Here I chose 35 for the intensity and 68 for the contrast.
Congratulations! You have just finished your first map from scratch.
Step 17
Results of the tutorial may vary, and you can alter it to suit your
needs or preference. I hope you've found this tutorial useful. Good luck
and happy shopping.
I
specialize in design, branding and illustration. I have extensive
hands-on experience developing concepts and projects from inception
through implementation. I'm available for freelance work so please visit
my website at jonathanpatterson.com and contact me if you have a
project you'd like me to work on! You can also find me on Twitter:
@jon_patterson.
