A map re-interpreted

[nikonguy]

Hey everybody,
Thanks for all the help and the tips yesterday, mainly the "river" issue. I went back and remade my original map for the region that my game is taking part in as an attempt to get it more inline with the world map. Let me know what you think! I've submitted the new map and the original.

I understand labels may be hard to read, I format all my maps to be printed on Super B3 paper from the start.

[pyrandon]

OKay, my reaction? Wow! That is a great map! I like it a lot! You took it to the next level here, nikonguy. Perhaps it'sd just the different style that I like much better, but I really, really like that new version. Great work!!!!!

[thebax2k]

Very impressive Nikonguy, your maps continue to get better. I find the new one very attractive, although the labels could be a wee bit less transparent.

While the old one is not as nice to look at, I find it a bit more functional from a dm's standpoint, as it tells me everything I need to know (locations, major features, etc.) without having so much detail or clutter that features get lost.

[nikonguy]

I assume your talking about the "kingdom" labels? I keep going back and forth about this. For some reason I feel a more "solid" black is harsh on the eyes. I'll play with it a little later and see if maybe there is a middle ground I am not noticing.

BTW, I would like to note that I have not learned this much about photoshop in my 6 years as a photographer! It's funny how you think you know it, until you start using if for illustration!

[RPMiller]

You could always use a difference blend mode on the text layer and see how that works.

[Valarian]

I think the labels are fine as they are, but could do with standing out a bit more. You could try copying the text to another layer, underneath the current text layer, and convert the text to white bold outline text. This should surround the text above with a white "halo" effect, allowing it to stand out from the background.

[The Cartographist]

nikonguy - Really like the changes you made to the map. I think that it came a long way in a short time (speaking from the "artistic" map standpoint). But I also agree that the old version would be better for me as a DM in running a campaign.

One question: El Haffa'd Emrites. Do you mean "emirates", i.e. the territory ruled over by an emir? Also, as in the United Arab Emirates?

[nikonguy]

Yes, that's what I meant. Was not aware I was spelling it wrong. Even funnier than spelling it wrong on two maps is the fact that my buddy who plays with us, who is from the Middle East didn't even catch that error. Thanks for the correction!

[keithcurtis]

I think the labels are fine as they are, but could do with standing out a bit more. You could try copying the text to another layer, underneath the current text layer, and convert the text to white bold outline text. This should surround the text above with a white "halo" effect, allowing it to stand out from the background.

I do this with filters. I apply a very slight outer glow on the text layer, set to the "paper color", or white-Lighten, then adjust till it looks subtle.

[Publius]

As far as allowing your labels to pop out, I use Illustrator, and a trick I use there is to add an extra stroke to the text, then move the added stroke beneath the text and make it white (or whatever background color you are working with, a lot of the stuff I do is Black & White so White is usually what I use). Then I adjust the point size of the new white stroke for the scale of the map (If the map is excessively large and needs to be shrunk down for printing later on the page, you'll need a larger point size to see it in the overall work).

The "outer glow" idea is a good one though Keith, I'll have to keep that in mind for future reference.