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Thread: My first ever map - for a story...

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    Guild Expert Jalyha's Avatar
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    Wip My first ever map - for a story...

    Not really sure what to say here!
    I hadn't ever tried to draw a map and I ended up with this:

    Click image for larger version. 

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    And then I realized how awful that was (lol) which is what brought me here. After browsing these forums, and a few other things, I tried again.

    So here's my first ever map (if you don't count the blobs above).

    Click image for larger version. 

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    I'm *trying* to draw a map for my novel (manuscript, really, and unfinished), but I'm not sure how/where to put all the details, so I guess I'll just keep working on it.


    If anyone has any advice or thoughts, I'd be grateful. Thanks!

    ~Jalyha

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    I like your second - i mean *first - map. What software are you using?

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    Guild Expert Jalyha's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Philobytes View Post
    I like your second - i mean *first - map. What software are you using?
    Thanks!!! I was worried it wasn't good enough to post yet, but everyone seems very understanding here.

    For the blobby thing I only had the paint program that comes with windows, I got Gimp to do the map.

    I guess maybe I should say what I did, in case people want to help

    I used a parchment maker script that was posted on here, and then added/deleted random effects till I liked it. After that, I drew outlines around my blobs on another layer, then the "coastline" tutorials to rough them up on another layer. Then I deleted all but the parchment and the final shapes. I bucket-filled the land areas, and then selected/cut them out to show the parchment. I put the "Fibers" pattern on a layer under the parchment and merged everything.

    I really liked it like that, but thought it needed more detail:

    Click image for larger version. 

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    So I selected the land and copied it to a layer under the first layer and played with different filters and patterns until the land looked right (I embossed it but I forget what else I'd done ) Then I invert the selection and did the same for the water.

    I just layered colors on top and played with opacity until it looked vaguely land/water-like.

    For the border, I made bigger parchment, duplicated it, and pasted my map in the middle. I drew a path around the map, filled it with a pattern, and set the opacity for the top parchment so that it would show through a bit.

    I'm sure there are better/easier ways, but it's way better than anything I thought I could do, so I'm happy.



    Now I just need to figure out where to put these trees/rivers...

  4. #4

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    Looks really good. Hope to see the improvement of it soon.

  5. #5
    Guild Expert Jalyha's Avatar
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    Still working on this map, but I haven't gotten anything I like, yet, and now I'm working on one of the cities/towns on Poste (The Northwest continent).

    Mountains and rivers are hard. :/

    I *did* brighten things up a bit, so I can see to work, but it's not a major change:

    Click image for larger version. 

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