The Making of the Maps


	Step 1: I'm using the Special Edition of Aldus Photostyler 2.0 for all my map-making. Yes, it's an older program, but aside from one little glitch -- it works just fine for my purposes. I can crank out a detailed map in 15 minutes. Step 1, then, is to start with an idea or a blank slate. Sometimes, I'll use a zoom-in of a current part of the world, and then just add detail to it.
	Step 2: Using the 12pt brush (25 pixel softedge, 100% opacity) and a brownish color selected from the pallette, I'll decide where the edges of the land will be. Here, we'll build an island.
	Step 3: Now, we'll use the same brush, and just detail whatever other colors we might want, to indicate the different parts of the island -- dark green and green mix for forest or jungle, light green and yellow mix for meadows, and so on...
	Step 4: Once all the general areas are filled in, I'll outline the land areas with that same 12pt brush, using a deep aqua or teal. This will define our continental shelf, reefs, or the like, later on.
	Step 5: Now I'll shrink the brush a little bit, to 6pt, and detail the land areas some more. It may be necessary to zoom in a bit, depending on how large a map I'm doing. This is also when, if I have snow-capped mountains, I add the white. I'll also mix up the colors, a bit, interspersing some here and some there. Another critical part of this is using shade-colors -- adding new colors that are half-way between two others in use on the map.
	Step 6: Here, we do the fun stuff -- using ProStyler's 'smear' brush at 6pt width, to make everything mix together in just the right way. I can drag out the white a bit, for the peak, or drag the brown back over the white, to give things a wispy look. Note the creation of a natural harbor on the south side of the island, and the creation of an isthmus on the northwest side.
	Step 7: This is where I add rivers, or small reservoirs of water, in the same color as the dark teal border -- using a 1pt brush (0 pixel soft edge, 100% opacity).
	Step 8: Now, I have to use the pixel-smearing function at 12pt width to sweep out the watery borders of the island, and denote the depth of the shelving.
	Step 9: Before I do the final step, I make myself a scale, and save this version as a 'base' file. From this base file, I'll be able to come back and make changes, do zoom-ins, and create special maps for special occasions.
	Step 10: The final step is to add details, such as major cities, the name of the mountain, forests, and the like. At this scale, of course, it's impossible to read -- but a larger map doesn't take much more time than a smaller map. Once saved, usually by the name of the major land feature (in this case, the island), it's good to go. The one glitch in the program is that I can't do outlined words -- such as a black-within-white word, to make it easier to see what the words are.