Ok… this is actually a question about either photoshop or GIMP and it’s a two parter… first… I am trying to fill with a gradient, and I want it to follow the line of the continent… but not the lines of the edge of the image… is there a way to make it so that it doesn’t go all the way around it? :S
and second… is there a way to get a border around all the contenents in the ocean… (to get the effect of the continental shelf around continents and islands…)?
use a different gradient [or edit that one] so it doesn’t have the line on one side
map lighting is two parts:
a color gradient based on the elevation [you might want to make a greyscale elevation map… or not, up to you]
the other component is the lighting, which is pretty much the bump map filter the gimp has.
I think it would be much easier to go the same approach to get the effect than to try to paint it yourself. [maybe you want to paint elevation for just the ocean and do the bump and color blue?]