@Ilanthar - Based on your suggestions, I removed Drop Shadows from the city names. I'l have to fiddle with the map's terrain and etc to increase legibility, but it seems like a good idea.
Gonna make a selection based on the text, extend it slightly and delete everything on the terrain layer around the text, so the text is fully legible and doesn't get mixed up with the background.
sdadsf.jpg
mapadvice13.jpg
Something like this maybe?
Well, your labels are a lot better imho. And for the places where they are not fully legible : just what Max said .
Update: The 27th step and coincidentally the 27th reply...
I finished the city labeling/roads, with the hostile territories and off-roads. I experimented with the terrain/geography/territory labels, perhaps with a few issues in terms of text warping and whatnot.
Here's how it's looking:
Step 27 (post deletion).jpg
@ Max - I had some issues with the whole "Masking" thing, because I'm at a point where in order to provide the orange-ish tone to the terrain I have to merge the 20 layers I have, making it a really troublesome process to mask every single layer. I've come up with the solution of saving multiple versions of the same document: One with all layers intact; and one with the layers deleted around letters. That way, theres no problem if I need to edit anything. I can just load up an old save
Gonna get some more labels, moreso on the Western side of the map, in which the towns seem a bit too spread out for a map of this scale.
Last edited by Alturax; 01-24-2016 at 12:48 PM.
@Takore - Hey man! I don't mind you using it at all! I'm planning on using it on a novel, but as long as your usage of the map remains private (limited to your d&d group, etc.) it's all good! Feel free to use it and let me know if you want the editable .psd file for any name changes you might be looking for.
Update:
Ocean Labeling with a few special zones too, plus tuning up the border text:
Step 27,5 (post deletion).jpg
oh that would be awesome. If I was planning on using it in anything more than a private setting I would be looking to purchase some sort of rights to use it
Yeah if I could get access to the .psd that would be awesome! I probably won't change much but having the option could be really nice.