Map creation tools?

[KHK]

Dear all,

I'd like to pick your collective brain on the peculiar subject of maps.
Among other input I've got from my beta-readers, there's a suggestion to prepend each chapter with a map. The story is unfolding (it's a road trip of a sort), and I don't want to have any spoilers disclosed by one global map in the beginning of the book, as is often the case with Fantasy fiction. I am more in favor of the "fog of war" approach, where the geography becomes gradually clearer along with the plot development.

I conducted a quick research and found a number of tools, online and downloadable, for creating fictional maps.
The issue is, my plot is tied to the real world geography. So what I'm looking for is a tool to take an area snapshot from, say, Google Maps, and convert it into a "hand-drawing", engraving-style, with the ability to overwrite my own toponyms and draw my own boundaries.

Has anyone come across something like that? A standalone tool, or maybe even a Photoshop plugin? Anything?

Thanks in advance!

[David K. Thomasson]

So what I'm looking for is a tool to take an area snapshot from, say, Google Maps, and convert it into a "hand-drawing", engraving-style, with the ability to overwrite my own toponyms and draw my own boundaries.

Link to image: https://cp.sync.com/dl/0f867e2a0/b987cp97-p2uzvjka-2xm4z8bj-wc8uifx9

You can do this in Photoshop:
1. Duplicate the background image.
2. Change blend mode of the duplicate to Divide (image will turn pure white).
3. Apply Gaussian Blur to bring out the "sketch" details.
4. Place a B/W adjustment layer above that to remove all colors.
4. Place a curves (or levels) adjustment layer above that to increase contrast (pull in the black end of the curve).

Additional refinements, just to illustrate: https://cp.sync.com/dl/11cb18100/d9n...3cvng-ps2hmwui