This is my guide to help you create a custom handmade minimap that closely resembles the style of minimaps in the Company of Heroes 3’s official map pool.

This is by no means a definitive answer to the “secret recipe” of the official minimaps, but this is as close as I have been able to achieve independently.

You may attempt to use whatever raster graphics editor you are used to, but this guide and its steps are written specifically for moderate to advanced users of Adobe Photoshop.


Before you follow this guide, make sure that your custom map is essentially COMPLETE.
Buildings, terrain, splats, splines... the works, make sure it's all set and ready to go before you create a handmade minimap or you may have to undo a lot of the work ahead.

When you feel confident that your custom map is complete, you may proceed to create a custom handmade minimap.

The first step of this guide is using the generated minimap as a base for our canvas.

Make sure you're generating the stylized minimap in the Essence Editor with the "anvil secondary material splats strips". Ensure your Scenario settings for the Minimap look like the settings below and be sure to save and build your map so the minimap is properly generated.



We want to open the Generated Minimap directly in Adobe Photoshop.

NOTE:
There are alternative ways to get the minimap into your workspace, such as building your map so that it appears in game, and then going to it on the menu and grabbing a screenshot from there. However, not only would you have to go through the trouble of removing the resource and other misc icons on the minimap, but this would also be a low resolution render.

Therefore, opening the generated minimap file directly is the best way to get a high resolution image to work with.

To open the Generated Minimap directly in Photoshop:

• Go to: [MAP FOLDER]\assets\scenarios\multiplayer\[MAP FOLDER]
  
• Look for the file that is: "[YOUR MAP NAME]_mm_generated.tga"
  
• Open the generated minimap .tga file via Adobe Photoshop.

EXAMPLE:
"(8) Lienne Forest\assets\scenarios\multiplayer(8) Lienne Forest(8) Lienne Forest_mm_generated.tga"



The imported generated minimap should look like this:

For the sake of this tutorial, I will continue to use and reference the remake of Lienne Forest that DutchToast and I made (now named Sedjenane Forest).

Now that we have the generated minimap as a canvas, we are going to need to create 3 layers (and a 4th that we’ll get to later) that are critical to the look and feel of the official minimap style:

• Grid
  
• Impasse
  
• Water

I have created these layers myself and I could go into great length on the entire DIY process but, for ease of use and to reduce the overall length and complexity of this guide, I have attached these 3 completed layers to this guide.

To download these images: Right click the below images, Copy Link Address, paste the link into your web browser, and right click the image to save it to your files.

• Using Photoshop, open the 3 layer files that I’ve shared.
  
• Copy over the (1) GRID (2) IMPASSE and (3) WATER layers, to the Generated .tga file that we opened in Step 1.
  
• Due to the size restrictions of images uploaded to Steam Guides, these layers are in 1080p while the generated minimap is a much larger resolution. Therefore, be sure to resize these images to fit the square map without altering the size proportions.
  
• Duplicate the generated minimap OVER the copied layers we added in Step 2, except for the GRID layer which should be on top of everything.
  
• The GRID layer should cover the whole minimap, but make sure that only whole squares (nothing cut in half!) exist for the grid's edges, and also ensure that the grid is sized so that the "border lines" are just outside the minimap canvas. We don't want border lines.
  
• Lock the GRID layer. Make sure that it stays as the top layer no matter what else we add from here on out. You can also hide this layer so that it doesn't get in the way. We can toggle the grid layer's visibility on again at the end of the minimap process.

This is what your layer setup should look like now:


By this point, make sure you Save As a new Photoshop .PSD file so you can save your work so far separately and to keep track of it.

You should now have all 3 layers that I have created and provided for you. Everything else from here on out is up to you.

We now want the 4th layer that I promised we'd get to, and that layer is a screenshot of your custom map from a bird's eye view. Or as I call it, the "Bird's Eye Screenshot."

Why do we want this screenshot when we have a generated minimap already? We want all the complete details from your custom map to show as a subtle overlay for your new handmade minimap. This captures all the subtle details that the default minimap fails to generate such as crater holes, trees, cliffs, etc.

• Open your Custom Map in the Essence Editor.
  
• Hide all your HQ, team, spawn, and fx markers. Ensure that the only things visible are the map itself as it would be seen in-game.
  
• Duplicate the “Default” atmosphere and change the sun angle from 30 to 100 so that the sun is directly above the map. The goal of this is to completely remove all shadows from the map from a bird’s eye view.
  
  If complications arise or if you accidentally deleted the default atmosphere, you can copy these settings:
  
  
  
  
• Disable the Atmospheric Fog
  
  
  
  
• Fly the camera high above the center of the map and take a screenshot of the entire map. Make sure to take this screenshot at the same angle as the generated minimap.
  
  

• Take your area screenshot and overlay it on the generated minimap at the top of the stack.
  
• Set the screenshot layer from Normal to Screen.
  
• Ensure the screenshot layer is set to Opacity 100%.
  
• Rotate and resize the screenshot image to perfectly match the generated minimap. Take extra care to NOT warp the original size dimensions of the screenshot.

So far it should look like this:
It looks SUPER bright now but we'll take care of that soon. This will retain as much detail as possible moving forward.

NOTE: This step will take great care and precision. Do whatever it takes so that every major geological feature perfectly fits the generated minimap. You may also feel free to erase the areas with the red map border caught in the screenshot.

Make another duplicate copy of the duplicate generated minimap, the one right below the screenshot layer we just added. I like to do this as a backup for this specific process.

• At the top right, click the left primary color swatch and set the color to hex #bcac9c.
  
• Select the generated minimap image we duplicated
  
• Go to: Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation
  
• In the window that pops up, click the box Colorize and set the Saturation down to +14. The color that the generated minimap will colorize to should be the hex color we previously set.
  
• Repeat this colorization process for the Screenshot layer above the generated minimap. Again, you can duplicate this layer and hide one of the layers as a backup.
  
• The last step is to select your recolorized Screenshot Layer and darken it by going to:
  Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast
  Then set the Brightness to -150.

(I've further renamed my layers for easier reading)

Once you've finished all of this, make duplicate backups of your Screenshot Layer (Recolored) and Generated Minimap Layer (Recolored), and MERGE these layers together.
You should now have a single well detailed "MERGED" minimap layer. As always, feel free to duplicate this to back it up.

Say it with me: Backup, Backup, Backup.
Make sure you always backup your layers before modifying them so you can easily trace your steps and backtrack if you make mistakes from this point onwards.

• Make a backup duplicate of the MERGED layer and a backup duplicate of the Impasse layer. Hide these backups.
  
• Move up the Impasse layer so that it's directly underneath the new MERGED layer.

We are now going to be painting impasse and by "painting" I mean erasing the layer above the impasse layer to show the impasse layer underneath.

• Select the MERGED layer directly above the Impasse layer.
  
• Change the Blending Options for this layer to have Inner Glow effects.
  You can copy the settings below:
  
  
• Now, using the Eraser Tool (with Hardness set to 100%), erase the parts of the map that are considered infantry/vehicle impasse regions. Cliffs and unbreakable trees are fair game, I would avoid painting impasse on areas where trees or other world objects are easily breakable.

When you are done, the result should look like this:

For this stage, you will want to keep the Essence Editor with your map open.

• In Essence Editor, use the “screenshot atmosphere” that we used earlier (with minimal shadows) try to get as close as you can to the birds eye view of each single building on your map and take a screenshot.
  
  
• In Photoshop, use the Polygonal and/or Magnetic Lasso Tool to cut out each building from its respective screenshot, then paste and overlay the building onto the minimap.
  Do your best to match the building size with the feint outline of the screenshot you laid earlier. If you have difficulty seeing the building size, use the backup Screenshot layer from earlier to help guide you.
  
  
• Buildings that are directly next to other buildings should be cut out together or have their layers merged together as “one” large building.
  
  
• Repeat this process for every single building and ambient structure on your custom map.
  
• When you’re done, you should have several layers of several buildings all over the map.
  
• Merge ALL building layers into ONE layer. Rename this layer "BUILDINGS".
  
• As always, make a duplicate of the BUILDINGS layer as a backup.

We're almost done with the BUILDINGS layer, we just want to add drop shadows and change their brightness & saturation. But before we do, TRIPLE CHECK to make sure that you have ALL buildings accounted for within your merged BUILDINGS layer. Scan your custom map in the Essence Editor too to make sure you haven't forgotten anything either because the stylized generated minimap sometimes skips some buildings.

• We want 2 drop shadow effects on the BUILDINGS layer:
  A thick black outline and a more spread out drop shadow.
  
• Right click the BUILDINGS layer > Blending Options > Drop Shadows
  
• Click the "+" button next to Drop Shadows to add a second drop shadow.
  
• Copy the settings below for each Drop Shadow effect:
  
  

• Select the BUILDINGS layer
  
• Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast
  
• Set the BUILDINGS layer Brightness to -65 (Africa) or Brightness to +65 (Italy).
  
• Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation
  
• Set the BUILDINGS layer Saturation to -50

• Now that we have all buildings accounted for, we want to remove the black squares that previously represented buildings for the stylized generated minimap.
  
• Select the MERGED layer (duplicate a backup if you wish)
  
• Use the Clone Stamp Tool to select areas just outside the black squares and use those areas to fill in the black squares underneath the BUILDINGS layer. There are many other ways to remove the black squares but use whatever method works best for you.
  

Once you've finished all these edits and removed the Black Squares, your minimap should now look like this:

It's very subtle but we need to also draw walls and add other general details relevant to the map.

We want to draw all high walls and "green cover walls". Regardless of the wall color and size, use the same color and thickness for all of these walls.

• Create a new blank layer. Be sure to use THIS layer to draw your walls so that you can easily fix your mistakes later.
  
• Select the Brush tool. Ensure the Brush size is 4px, Hardness 100%, and with Fill color enabled and Stroke color disabled. Of course, you can increase the brush size for thicker unbreakable support walls if you need them.
  
  
  
• Change the Brush's primary hex color swatch to #c0af9a. Note however that a white-greyish color can be used instead for a more Italian themed map.
  
  
  
• Using both the Screenshot layer and the Essence Editor as your reference guides, use the Brush tool to draw all the high walls and green cover walls on your map.
  
• Pro tip! To draw straight lines for walls, you can click one end of the wall, and then "SHIFT+Left Click" the other end of the wall for a straight line to generate between the 2 points!
  
• Once ALL your walls are complete, select the Blank layer you used to draw the walls and go into Blending Options to add a Drop Shadow with these settings:
  
  
  
• Once you're done drawing the walls and adding the Drop Shadow to the entire layer, your map's walls should look like this:
  

Some structures or props don't count as buildings or walls, but are still large enough to be reasonably relevant to the minimap. What's relevant or not relevant to include is up to you, but whatever you choose as relevant, you can add to the custom minimap the same way we added Buildings. Bridges are another general detail that should always be added to the minimap too, so simply screenshot, cutout, and drop shadow these relevant structures or details.

For example, these Oil Refinery Tanks have a large footprint. Even though they're close to the outer bounds of the map, It was still worth screenshotting an above view of them and adding them to the custom minimap.

Water is UNAFFECTED by the vignette and shadows on official minimaps, so we will "paint" water as the last step in this process.

• We want to merge several layers together before we start applying Vignette and Shadows.
  
• Select the BUILDINGS layer, the MERGED minimap layer, and the IMPASSE layer. Right click and Merge Layers.
  

These following steps can be SKIPPED but if you want to maintain good BACKUP practice in case you mess up or want to fine tune things later on, here's what you do:

• Once these layers are merged, use the Rectangle select tool to select the entire merged layer and COPY.
  
• Click: "File > New > Clipboard (2048 x 2048)" > Paste the new merged image.
  
• Go back to your Custom Minimap Photoshop file.
  
• Undo the merge.
  
• Paste the new merged image from the new file we created.

Now that we have a new merged super file, we can start making the whole custom minimap look pretty by adding Vignette and Shadows.

• Select the new merged super file, rename it to "SEMI-FINAL LAYER" if you wish.
  
• With the new semi-final layer selected, go to: Filter > Camera Raw Filter
  
• In the Camera Raw Filter editor, give the layer a Vignette of -30.
  
• Within the Camera Raw Filter editor, go to Selective Edits and add one or two Linear Gradients with the Exposure for these gradients set to roughly -1.50. We want to fill a third of the map with a dark gradient to emphasize a sense of shadows on the minimap. The liberty of choosing where and how to add the Linear Gradient darkness is up to you!
  
  
  When you're done customizing your vignette and Linear Gradients, your minimap will have much more visual depth and shadow. The end result of these steps at this point should look like this:
  

Now, we can move onto the final step: Water.

At last, we can finally "paint" water.

• Move a copy of the WATER layer directly underneath our Semi-Final Merged layer.
  
• Select our Semi-Final Merged layer and for the layer's Blending options, add 2 Drop Shadows:
  
  
  
  This is how the top row of your Layers should look when you are done:
  
  
  
• With our Semi-Final Merged layer selected, use the Eraser Tool set to 100% hardness and erase the areas where water should be on the map. There is no differentiation between shallow or deep water in the official style, so be sure to also erase shallow water area crossings as well.
  
  
• Now MERGE the Water layer with the Semi-Final Layer and you now have our FINAL image layer!
  

• Select the Final combined water+land layer
  
• With the Final layer selected, go to: Filter > Camera Raw Filter
  
• In the Camera Raw Filter editor, give the layer a Grain of +10.

The final step is to toggle visibility on the GRID layer we added at the start of the process and now you have your final custom minimap done!

Now that you have your final custom handmade minimap, all that's left is to add it to the game!

• In Photoshop, go to "File > Save as a copy >"
  
• In the drop-down menu for the file type you're saving this as, change it from Photoshop .PSD to Targa .TGA
  
  
• Navigate to the directory where you found the generated minimap, and save your new handmade minimap in the same area, but replace the word "generate" with the word "handmade".
  
  Essentially, your file name must be: “mapname_mm_handmade.tga”
  
  
• Save your Targa file there. Ensure that the dimensions are 2048x2048. Save the Photoshop file elsewhere for your records.
  
• In Essence Editor, Build your map and it will now use your handmade image.

And that's it! You've finally created a custom handmade minimap that looks extremely similar to CoH3's official minimap style!

I know there were a lot of steps here, but hopefully I was able to explain everything important and I hope you find success in your custom minimap! If you have any questions after reading this guide, feel free to message me on Discord or comment on this guide. I know this is a time consuming process and the sheer number of steps seems intimidating, but the end result is a very aesthetic map both to look at and play on.

Thanks again for reading my guide and I wish you the best of luck in creating your own official-looking custom minimaps!