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Creating a map with relief shading is by no means an automated task you can perform using a Photoshop Action. This process involves lots of retouching and color correction man hours. Nevertheless, the most difficult part of this process (the map relief itself) will be created using a plugin bundled with Photoshop: Lighting Effects. Download the example image, open it in Photoshop and make sure that it is in RGB format. Now, lets start to create the map relief:
Select the image (CTRL/COMMAND+A) and copy it to the clipboard (CTRL/COMMAND+C).
Go to channels palette and create a new empty channel (click on the new channel icon, the one marked in red) without changing the default settings. Paste (CTRL/COMMAND+V) the image inside the newly created channel. Click on the RGB channel and return to the Layers Palette.
Create a new layer. Fill it with white and rename it RELIEF.
Now that we have everything set up lets create the relief with the Lighting Effects plugin. Go to FILTER > RENDER > LIGHTING EFFECTS…
The Lighting Effects plugin has a powerful feature that allows us to create relief (commonly known as bumps) in an image using an alpha channel. In this case we will be using the previously created Alpha channel where the a copy of the height map lies. Lighting Effects plugin will use this elevation information to create the relief. Be prepared to repeat this process several times until you get exactly what you want. But for this first time you will be doing fine by using the same settings shown in the image above.
Just a quick tip: Adjust the light position so it is pointing from the upper left corner to the middle of the image with an approximate angle of -135 degrees and modify the distance until the image shows something like an overall 50% gray tone with highlights and shadows on the relief part. Click OK and we are done!
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