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Thread: Saying hello

  1. #1
    Guild Novice
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    Feb 2012
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    The Netherlands
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    Default Saying hello

    Hello everyone,

    I'll just take a moment to introduce myself and tell a bit about my background, as a way of saying hello. My name is Joop, I'm Dutch and in my daily life I am a network engineer. I have been interested in maps for as long as I can remember. I think, when someone in elementary school had asked me what my favourite book was, my answer would probably have been "my parents' atlas". They had the Winkler Prins Atlas of the World, which showed some old maps. I think those were my favourite element of the book. I now have a copy of the Times Atlas of the World, which is huge, heavy and absolutely beautiful. :-)

    It didn't take me long to figure out that I could make my own maps and all through my childhood and early teens I spent plenty of hours with pencils and large sheets of paper, drawing islands, entire continents and once even an entire fictional world. In my late teens, I discovered fiction writing and I started doing that more and more, kind of forgetting my passion for maps.
    Then, a little while back, I had an idea for a story set in a fictional world. I felt the need to map out that fictional world so I started off with pencils and paper before I though: "Wait a second, I am in IT...there must be a way to do this on the computer..." So I started searching around, found a link on how to maps in The Gimp, clicked it and up popped this site. The rest, as they say, is history.

    Oh, the writing bit? Well...err...no, I am not published. At least, none of my fictional work has been published. But who knows, in the future...

  2. #2
    Guild Member Lailokken's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    IL, USA
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    75

    Default

    Heyo Joop!

    Another Atlas lover.. I can relate. To me it felt like I had a book full of treasure maps and adventure.. if that makes any sense.

    There's a great Tutorial/How-to folder in the Mapping Resources section of the forum. I don't use it myself, but I believe there are some GIMP tutorials as well. Maybe get a Work In Progress post going, and if you get stuck just ask for help. I know there are some very talented folks here who use GIMP.

    As for your writing.. this site does have a BLOG feature, so maybe post some of your stuff.

    Welcome to the Cartographers' Guild!

    -Lailokken
    A man shows who he is, by what he does, with what he has.

  3. #3
    Guild Novice
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Location
    The Netherlands
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    Default

    Hi Lailokken,

    Thanks for the welcome! Yes, that makes perfect sense to me. I still love leafing through an atlas, looking at coastlines, mountain ranges.
    The Gimp tutorials are what brought me to the Cartographers Guild, actually. I am trying to make a map in Gimp at the moment and am running into some problems, so I decided to take you up on your advice and posted a question. I hope some of the Gimp wizards here can help me. I've seen such beautiful maps here!

    I'll check out the blog feature. Who knows, maybe I'll feel brave enough to actually post something I've written. ;-)

  4. #4
    Guild Journeyer maxsdaddy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    Westfield, NJ USA
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    190

    Default

    You can't find a better place for help, ideas, or just plain wacky map fun than here.

  5. #5
    Guild Novice
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Location
    The Netherlands
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    Default

    Thanks, maxsdaddy. Yes, I have been checking around the forum, looking at the galleries. I am seeing beautiful maps, much better than anything I have ever done. Thousands of hours must go into some of these projects. I guess I am becoming hooked on making maps...again!

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