[Award Winner] A medieval town map tutorial in Photoshop

[pyrandon]

My purpose in this tutorial is to show how to create a Photoshop map of a medieval town containing a great deal of flexibility—meaning it could be either used as a photorealistic map or (with the help of one or more Photoshop filters) an “artistic” map. Above and beyond this, I also tried very hard to streamline the process so the map could be created exceedingly quickly. Flexibility and speed: two cartography goals worth pursuing, I think, if a high degree of quality can be maintained.

I am assuming you know the basics of Photoshop, such as selecting items, layer manipulation, brush use, etc. The most advanced techniques I'll use are layer masks and layer styles--so nothing out of this world. However, if these seem exotic to you I'd suggest you perform a quick Internet search and follow a few simple PS tutorials to become acquainted with the program.

The program I’ll use is Photoshop CS2, but I think everything I do works in both older or newer versions as well. For this tutorial I also use an "Rolepalying City Map Generator" program which can be downloaded free of charge from the developer's website (see below)--but you need not utilize this application if you choose to work by hand.

Attached below is the basic map I'll create. At the end of this tutorial I will also show "artistic" variations of this basic image created in mere seconds.

Finally, let me say I am a PS and cartography amateur, completely self-taught in both areas. If you note any suggestions, improvements, or corrections in my work, I would be grateful if you let me know! I write tutorials to teach myself more than for any other purpose, and I'd accept any and all assistance you can kindly offer.

On we go!