Ink and Parchment Style Regional Map

[Alecthar]

Very nice map.

Maybe work a little with the labels? I know readability is important, but I think it would add to the parchment effect if the text followed the texture of the paper. As it is, it looks like someone put an old map through an inkjet printer and added the labels.
Maybe just curving the labels will do the trick - the mountain labels that are on a path don't seem to "offend" so much.

Oh, and the ⌘'s do seem rather on the large side.

Why must you hate my ⌘s?

As far as the names go, I'll see what I can do. I'll play with colors and layer modes to see if I can find something that looks a bit more natural. I observed the same phenomenon of the mountain/river names looking slightly more "natural" than the rest, and I'm gonna see what I can do there.

[Alfar]

I don't hate your ⌘s. I think they'd look better if they were smaller, that's all. Maybe that too is caused by them being printed on top of the parchment, so the straight lines (and blocky-ness) make them seem out of place.

[Alecthar]

I don't hate your ⌘s. I think they'd look better if they were smaller, that's all. Maybe that too is caused by them being printed on top of the parchment, so the straight lines (and blocky-ness) make them seem out of place.

Just joking. The main problem I'm encountering is that I do want to maintain readability, but the black doesn't really show texture. I'm thinking I might add a very small blur to the city names to blend them a bit better, maybe the same thing will work for the ⌘s.

[jfrazierjr]

Just joking. The main problem I'm encountering is that I do want to maintain readability, but the black doesn't really show texture. I'm thinking I might add a very small blur to the city names to blend them a bit better, maybe the same thing will work for the ⌘s.

Use a displace, with the displacement map from the layer with the texture on it. This will give just a hint of fuzziness and warp to the letters. Of course, it will only affect the side of the letters where the underlying texture is light colored though.

[Alecthar]

Alright, I tried a displacement map on the names, and I didn't really get the look I was aiming for. I'm going to play around with things a bit, but I'm probably going to blur things a bit and leave it at that. I'm considering this one "done" except for naming.

But I'm working on my next idea related to this style. I'm finding that the "Grain Merge" Layer mode does a pretty good job of making things look a bit more painted/inked on, attached is a little test piece I put together to see how it would look with some hand-drawn elements. I think from now on I'll be doing more of the mountain/forest type stuff by hand.

[msa]

Just joking. The main problem I'm encountering is that I do want to maintain readability, but the black doesn't really show texture. I'm thinking I might add a very small blur to the city names to blend them a bit better, maybe the same thing will work for the ⌘s.

If you haven't already, you might want to watch these two tutorials from ZombieNirvana. He really goes into how he wraps the objects on his map around the folds and creases of the parchment texture. He talks specifically about text vs. map elements.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDtNQpxj3Iw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9I4gcyjWDAQ

It might be a little pedantic for you, but its probably worth watching since its what you are working on.

[Alecthar]

If you haven't already, you might want to watch these two tutorials from ZombieNirvana. He really goes into how he wraps the objects on his map around the folds and creases of the parchment texture. He talks specifically about text vs. map elements.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDtNQpxj3Iw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9I4gcyjWDAQ

It might be a little pedantic for you, but its probably worth watching since its what you are working on.

You, sir, are a gentleman and a scholar.

[jfrazierjr]

Alright, I tried a displacement map on the names, and I didn't really get the look I was aiming for. I'm going to play around with things a bit, but I'm probably going to blur things a bit and leave it at that. I'm considering this one "done" except for naming.

But I'm working on my next idea related to this style. I'm finding that the "Grain Merge" Layer mode does a pretty good job of making things look a bit more painted/inked on, attached is a little test piece I put together to see how it would look with some hand-drawn elements. I think from now on I'll be doing more of the mountain/forest type stuff by hand.

You may also like to take a look at a parchment map I started (and will eventually get back to) back in Dec. Once I started making the mountains, I ended up making a short tutorial for it. It may give you some ideas(warning, lots of hard work involved, but it's worth it in the end result)