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Thread: Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator which is better for Mapping????

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    Question Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator which is better for Mapping????

    Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator which is better for Mapping????

    i generally use photoshop because its the only program im familiar with but i heard people use Illustrator. i was jsu wondering what the difference is and if their are features which are better for cartography?

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    Community Leader Facebook Connected Ascension's Avatar
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    From a theoretical standpoint vector (Illustrator) would be better because that would allow for zooming in and out with ease without pixellation distortion. That makes it good for technical things. I prefer more artistic things and less technically precise so I go with raster (Photoshop).
    If the radiance of a thousand suns was to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One...I am become Death, the Shatterer of worlds.
    -J. Robert Oppenheimer (father of the atom bomb) alluding to The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 11, Verse 32)


    My Maps ~ My Brushes ~ My Tutorials ~ My Challenge Maps

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    Guild Adept Facebook Connected RjBeals's Avatar
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    a combination of both is usually the best way.

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    hey thanks ill check out the software discussion.

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    I feel like I should also jump in to say that mapping in Illustrator is often done with a set of plug-ins that cost almost as much as the software itself does. I forget the name of the plug-in suite at the moment.
    Bryan Ray, visual effects artist
    http://www.bryanray.name

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    i would love to know the name of those plug in suit if you remember.

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    A limitation, though, that I've found in Illustrator, which drives me nuts is the limit on the number of vertexes in a path/ink line you are permitted. When tracing out a complex coast, etc, I often hit the limit early and am unable to trace the whole coast in one go, which makes it difficult to get a decent continuous outline/pen effect. I haven't done much with paths in PS, so I'm not sure if it kicks in here on or not; I usually use the other selection tools and layers.

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    I hadn't noticed such a limitation. But I generally don't trace with the pen tool--I use the pencil. Are oyou using an older version? Or maybe it's just a limit with bezier curves; they do need a bit of computation to display.

    Those plugins are called MAPublisher.
    Bryan Ray, visual effects artist
    http://www.bryanray.name

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    Community Leader Facebook Connected Ascension's Avatar
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    I have the same problem with the software I use in stained glass. Long time ago I tried to trace a coastline in my stained glass software and hit the limit. But when I did the same coast in PS I didn't hit any limit. This is not to say that there is no limit just that I didn't hit it on this one example.
    If the radiance of a thousand suns was to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One...I am become Death, the Shatterer of worlds.
    -J. Robert Oppenheimer (father of the atom bomb) alluding to The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 11, Verse 32)


    My Maps ~ My Brushes ~ My Tutorials ~ My Challenge Maps

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