You can use the masks to create dramatic effects with shadows – either with whole continents or individual countries. Although we provide shadow masks on this disc for land areas, you can easily create your own customized versions for individual countries. To create a shadow mask for a country:
1. Open the mask for any country on your selected map. Change the mode to grayscale.
2. Create a new channel, naming it “mask.”
3. Go back to the country mask (“Black” in the “Channels” window), select all, and choose “Cut” from the “Edit” menu. The Black channel is now empty.
4. Choose “Load Selection” from the “Select” menu. Click “OK” in the dialog box. The country mask now appears as a selection area.
5. Now choose “Feather…” from the “Select” menu. In the dialog box enter a number in the “Feather radius:” box – the larger the number, the softer the shadow will be. Try 30. Hit “OK.”
6. Fill the selection with white – the foreground color (choose “Fill…” from the “Edit” menu).
7. Choose “None” from the “Select” menu.
8. Choose “Other > Offset…” from the “Filter” menu. In the dialog box enter values of 40 pixels right and 40 pixels down. Check the “Repeat edge pixels” radio button and click “OK.”
9. Now choose “Load Selection” from the “Select” menu and hit “OK” in the dialog box.
10. Now choose “Fill…” from the “Edit” menu and select “ Use: Background color” from the pop-up menu, with 100% opacity.
11. Finally, delete the “Mask” channel and save the shadow mask as a new document.
To apply a shadow to a relief map (or to any other suitable image):
12. Open the appropriate relief map and create a new channel.
13. Copy the shadow mask and paste it into the new channel.
14. Click on the “Black” channel in the “Channels” window and choose “Load Selection” from the “Select” menu.
15. Use any of the available “Adjust” controls (“Image” menu) to apply the shadow. Try using the sliders in the “Brightness/Contrast…” control.
 
A mask for creating shadows A mask for creating vignettes
Creating vignettes from the masks
The masks can also be used to create a vignetted area around a country. To create a vignette mask, simply follow the procedure for creating and applying a shadow mask, above, but leave out step 8.
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