Regional Map - Lettering Problem

[Valastyr]

Hi folks,

I'm a newbie here, so I hope my thread (and my desperate need for help) is in the right place.

The problem I would require some help with, is the map I started drawing a while ago. More precisely, it's all the detail i put into the map (and especially the mountains), that makes it quite hard to letter the whole thing readable.
I tried a few things with colors, or scaling with the transparancy of my linework, but so far none of my attempts were very promising.

I would be very grateful for suggestions how to solve this - of course I would also love some overall feedback on the map, so I can improve it further.

map01.jpg

map02.jpg

PS: If my english is somehow clumsy, please bear with me - it's not my mothertongue :>

[QED42]

I assume you are working in some digital program, it might help us to know which. In general using some sort of stroke or outer glow effect on the lettering is the best way to make it readable. So black text with some white around it or white text with some black around it.

[Voolf]

Te easiest way is to add a bright stroke around the text and/or outer glow.
Alternatively you can just paint in very low opacity white or bright yellow beneath text layer, but above map.

You have to try those first, but i think that may not solve your problem. Sometimes even that dosen't look good and you have to look for different solution. If you are going to colour the map and the mountains will be darker you can try using white-ish coloured font instead of black. Then play with dark outer glow.

Btw. Very nice map you have there, hope we can see the final version in Finished maps. Good luck

[Valastyr]

Thank you both so much - and sorry I didn't include the program I use earlier. I'm using PS CC and work with it regularly - but I never made a map before (and usually dont use text in my works), so I'm not sure how to approach the outer glow.
First instinct would be to copy a white textlayer and just blur it beneath the black text. But I'm not sure if that's enough.

If you have any further tips, I would be very grateful.

And thanks for the compliment Voolf, I'm almost done - it's only missing a couple of hills now and the lettering. And color, if I add any.

[ChickPea]

Those mountains are fantastic!! *drools*

Can't wait to see your next version.

[waldronate]

For Photoshop, you should be able to use layer effects to deliver a stroke or outer glow around the text pretty easily. Getting a knockout around the text is a bit harder and I would need to go look up the technique.

[Carnifex]

Solve it like this maybe?

http://www.donsmaps.com/images29/mid...argerstill.jpg

[waldronate]

As others have suggested, you need something to interrupt the artwork around the text to give it enough contrast to be legible. It looks like you're going for a style reminiscent of a woodcut, where a glow or hard-edged solid color around the text would look out of place. I recommend the same sort of treatment that industrygothica did for https://www.cartographersguild.com/s...ad.php?t=39409 (knocking out the surrounding artwork to let the paper show through). It gets similar results to the traditional process of laying out a rough cartoon of your final artwork that includes the text and then leaving a little space around the elements to be emphasized (like the text) by interrupting the inking or engraving around those elements.

[Valastyr]

Thanks again, both linked maps look absolutely fantastic, and show very good solutions to my problem. waldronate and Voolf, you both were definitly right - I tried the glow just now, and it looks a bit off. I will try to just erase/lighten linework around the text. This should also work with color, or so I hope.
I'm really motivated now, thanks to all your feedback you guys

And thank you very much ChickPea! It took me some time to figure out how to draw them

[Diamond]

If you can possibly avoid erasing any of the artwork, that's always a better option. What if you want to change a name, but you've already erased the artwork under the old name? The new letters won't match up to the blank spots.

A much better solution is to simply add a few-pixels-wide stroke of the same color as the underlying parchment, if the parchment is the base layer of the map. Just use the color picker to pick out the/a predominant color in the parchment texture, and use that as your stroke color. (I always add the parchment to my maps last, as an overlay layer on top of everything else. That way its texture is uninterrupted by anything you do to the layers below it. And it makes it much easier to add any effects to text.)

Also:

1. Welcome to the Guild!

2. That map is FANTASTIC. Great linework, some of the best I've seen. Keep up the good work.