Praathamika WIP

I had all the text written and lost it because I forgot to hit the "Go advanced" button first. Bummer.

Anyway: hi there! :-)

This is my second "iteration" in Praathamika WIP. Like before, three images: big, east and west. About 1.5MB in total.

I had a few problems with this, and I'd like a little input. In particular, there are two that bother me the most:

- How do you make the text (of territories, rivers, landmarks, whatever) stand out without making a mess? I've tried to put a sort of white shadow around them, but the result is not very convincing. I feel that the answer is just "less is better", and that I should use smaller texts altogether, but maybe you have another opinion.
- I use Gimp, and adjusting a text along a path is a real PITA. Or maybe it's just me. What I do now is the following sequence: draw a path, write a text, make text follow a path, turn path into selection, paint the selection black, remove path and text. Quite convoluted. Am I doing it wrong?

As usual, criticisms and suggestions very welcome. Thanks in advance :-)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by silverhead

- I use Gimp, and adjusting a text along a path is a real PITA. Or maybe it's just me. What I do now is the following sequence: draw a path, write a text, make text follow a path, turn path into selection, paint the selection black, remove path and text. Quite convoluted. Am I doing it wrong?

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That is the crappy process. Sorry ;) Most of the Gimp users here have added Inkscape to their toolset for adding text... Much better.

-Rob A>

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RobA

That is the crappy process. Sorry ;) Most of the Gimp users here have added Inkscape to their toolset for adding text... Much better.

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And what would be the process? Import the resulting texts as a PNG into a layer in Gimp? IIRC, Gimp can read SVG too, but I've not tested it and I don't know if it'd work.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by silverhead

And what would be the process? Import the resulting texts as a PNG into a layer in Gimp? IIRC, Gimp can read SVG too, but I've not tested it and I don't know if it'd work.

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I usually bring an unlabeled map into Inkscape as a png file. I then create a new layer in Inkscape for each tipe of labelling (area, city, river, etc) as well as roads and icons, comass rose, etc. I then export out each layer (with the others turned off) as transparent png's and import them into gimp as layers, then add effects. Optionally effects (drop shadow/glows, etc.) could be done in inkscape but I find the filter support still not quite there.

While I have not made a map in a style similar to yours, It should work fine.
-Rob A>