Ascension's Atlas Style Tutorial - Revised Presentation + Actions

[Kindari]

A new presentation of Ascension's Atlas Style Photoshop Tutorial
- Updated: 8/17/2012
- Added a video tutorial!
- New layout, more tips, actions

Hey everyone,

I've added a video tutorial of this tutorial on YouTube - - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL44EEB5472CD8BE93
I hope it's helpful!!

The Main Tutorial
This is designed so a total Photoshop novice can fully complete the tutorial on their own, but a more advanced user can easily see the relevant commands and move quickly (provided they have the software and basic computer skills). I've tested it on a people and had great results.

Companion (Actions) Tutorial
This version automates any steps where the user doesn't have to give their own creative input and runs them as Photoshop actions. It's really fast. It reduces the number of Steps from to 225 to 63, and it has a method for starting with an existing map shape to just add the style.

About
I've been using Ascension's Atlas style tutorial and was so happy with it, I decided to re-write it in a way that I could go through it more quickly using as many keyboard shortcuts as possible. What I ended up with was a pretty elaborate document, a lot learned about Photoshop, and something I thought others might enjoy and benefit from.

While I wrote the document, virtually every step of it simply recreates Ascension's style exactly. I even asked him for permission - I don't want to take credit for the style. There are only a couple minor additions or revisions in the overall style, the most drastic of which is just a layer which can easily just be hidden or deleted. The Photoshop document layout is quite different in some areas, but I hope this adds more flexibility and organization for more complex maps.

This tutorial also stops just before Ascension's tutorial started getting into adding titles and towns.

I'm totally open to feedback. If you try it out and get hung up somewhere or whatever, let me know. If I can clarify it more, I will update and re-post.

I hope you all like it!

LAST 3 UPDATES:
08/17/2012
- some minor tweaks
- added a YouTube series: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL44EEB5472CD8BE93

07/26/2012
- combined CS5.1 and CS6 versions into one for both the regular and action companion versions
- added notes to explain differences between CS6 and CS5.1
- a few fixes

06/20/2012
- several minor fixes (CS6 versions)
- revised some areas to be clearer (CS6 versions)