Master Digital Map Making with Photoshop and Gaea

It’s quite intimidating making a start on a project. Especially when that project is the creation of a new world.

You may spend days building a full tectonic plate history. Or, you could simply start drawing. No matter how you start, you want a result that stands out. The very best looking maps are typically not made in a map-making program, but drawn in Photoshop by someone with an abundance of artistic talent.

Well, I’m not a naturally artistic person, I can’t draw very well. Even with a program like Wonderdraft, I just couldn’t generate the epic world I had pictured in my mind. However, what I lack in artistic talent, I make up for with my ability to use complicated software!

This guide will give you everything you need to follow my process, including project files. My approach has been influenced by other tutorials, and I will link out to these where appropriate. If you want to just skip to the results, take a look at my portfolio, and links for commissions here

What you need

Software

• Photoshop or GIMP
• Gaea2 (Download here for free) – You can buy a license to export at higher resolutions. The 8k export from the indie license is enough for this workflow, as we will work on a single continent at a time. Alternatively, for people who have followed my tutorial but need support, I can provide up to a 16k render with a tier 1 commission
• (Optional) Wilbur I like doing an initial erosion pass with Wilbur before heading into Gaea, but this is optional
• (Optional) Blender For creating globe renders, including features like clouds

Inputs

We will assume you have:

• A starting map
• An idea of where to place mountains
• An idea of where to place your climates

You can invest as much or as little time into the above as you want. Here are your options for getting started:

• Just go for it. Embrace the mistakes and the cliches. We will be using techniques that will add more realism to the coastlines’ and mountain ranges’ looks. The exact shapes of continents and locations of mountain ranges might be a little off.
• Use Rock 3 to generate a starting heightmap and climate classification. It gives you everything you need, although it can be hard to get the plate tectonic simulations to work completely realistically
• Follow the guides from @MadelineJamesWorldbuilds, who provides a really easy to follow pen and paper method for generating a starting world map (and much much more!)
• Follow the YouTube guide from Artifexian’s Worldbuilder’s Log, or if you prefer blog form, follow the Worldbuilding Pasta blog. This is very in depth and will take a long time to get to the stage where this blog will take over (Once you reach the erosion step)

Outputs

Eventually, we will create these outputs as part of this tutorial series:

Gaea2 “LightX” Node Output

Straight out of Gaea2, this node adds in some realistic lighting to help give the 3D effect. This gives a great balance between realism and clarity

Gaea2 Cartography Node Output

A quick topographic map that you get in a couple of clicks. Great for understanding the topography of the land

Gaea-Guided Wonderdraft (Or other)

You can use the output of Gaea to guide more “Hand drawn” style maps, ensuring your rivers and forests are placed realistically.

Globe Render

The ultimate level of realism. While clouds and atmosphere do hide some details, it gives a stunning end result!

Where to Get Support

Check out my About page for links to my YouTube Channel and discord server for support