Library: Creative Design

Replicate the old-world charm of antique maps

You’ve probably read countless techniques on how to retouch and refurbish old art and photos to make them look their best. However, have you ever considered doing the opposite? We’ll show you how to do just that by speeding up the aging process and turning line art into a worn out and faded image, giving a sense of history and old-time elegance. In no time you’ll be able to transform the boring line map shown in Figure A, into the vintage style antique shown in Figure B.





Do you like the vintage look? If so, find out how to make antiques labels in “Reinvent a vintage look by imitating antique labels” (March 2007) or if you like realistic aged metallic surfaces, check out “Create grungy metal surfaces with sophisticated corrosive effects” (August 2007). You can read these articles online at www.elijournals.com/premier/ showArticle.asp?aid=24193 and www. elijournals.com/premier/showArticle. asp?aid=25209.

Set your course and map it
Finding the perfect image of a map may be the most difficult aspect of this entire process. Ideally, you should select a black and white illustration of the world or a specific area. You can scan an image from an atlas or look online using the keywords blank outline maps. To save you time we did the scouting for you. To work along with us, download the file from the URL listed at the beginning of this article, and open the file oldmap.psd in Photoshop.

Note: When you pick out line art for your antique technique, it’s okay if the quality isn’t perfect. If the lines aren’t crisp, it actually helps to give it a more aged look.

Make paper with character
Since most of us don’t have prepared sheepskin at hand or easy access to a papyrus plant, we’ll create our own interpretation of authentic parchment paper to give our map an old-world feel.

To create the parchment paper:
1. Click the Create A New Layer button at the bottom of the Layers palette.
2. Nam...