Adobe have updated Illustrator, and now for the first time you can properly export PSD files of individual layers and retain transparency. This is a huge time saver and means that I can save individual layers in 250 dpi resolution. There seems to be a 30,000 px export limit on all formats except PNG which can take forever to compile, so expect large PNG export to take a VERY LONG time. With PSD exports there are very little compression involved which mean faster exports but huge files.
For me I prefer things to go faster and invest a bit more in storage, but your preferences might vary. High on my investment list some sort of SSD based storage for my Dropbox and OneDrive, it will be expensive but save me lots of time in less wait for things to open or save. I have SSD's for system and scratch drives, 3TB all in all, but for storage I need at least 6TB more. Prices are coming down: Samsung SSD 860 EVO 2TB M.2 SATA Internal SSD for $319! Seems like I need to start to read reviews on PCIe M.2 adapter cards...
If you want to change to content of the map the easiest way is to grab the Illustrator file and edit it to your liking you can get it here:
http://bit.ly/GH-FlanaessFull598CY-AI-2019REV1
The PSD format (Photoshop's standard file format) only supports file sizes up to 2GB, and for my Flanaess map in layers that is far from enough, since it weighs in at 8.36GB. Thankfully Adobe has created the PSB file format (Large Document Format) that support much larger files, both in bite- and pixel size.
The 598 CY Flanaess PSB map file has over 40 layers, and I added a few masks as well to make it more useful. You can grab it here:
http://bit.ly/GH-FlanaessFull598CY-PSB-2019REV1
This file and the Water- and Ocean Masks are the ingredients you need to start styling the map to create a look you like!
By using Photoshops built in filters, blend modes you can create something really cool and varied results without having to do too much work. Below is a version I created in about 6 hours of playing around
You can get the full JPG map here:
http://bit.ly/GH-FlanaessFull598CY-Parchment1-JPG-2019REV1
Here is the PSB file I used to create this map version (a warning, it is 11.6GB):
https://www.dropbox.com/s/sdlwhvekgyknouk/Flanaess%20Full%20Map%20598%20CY%20-%202019%20Edition%20REV1_Handout%20Example-1.psb?dl=0
Here you can see the blend modes I used, and get the parchment layer I added. Test to play around with the filters and see what you can come up with.
