Hello Hai-Etlik.
First, let me say thanks for taking the time to give me some notes. Its greatly appreciated. The more I look upon the map the less satisfied I am with it and this reinforces some of the issues I think I've been having with it. So... I have a few questions if you are willing to hand hold a newb. as such, please do keep in mind that I am an amateur at this and its only my second go at a digital map.
Assuming I am not really talented and this is the best basic world map I can come up with, what would you say are the things you would most change to make the make more "appealing" as just a basic world map? I assume removing the compass rose and rhumb lines? These had originally been added for "artistic" measure. I know the rhumb lines are not accurate, but I thought they might make a decent artistic touch. Would you reccomend "converting" the map to another projection such as Robinson? Or would it be better to simply start over with a different style of map, more appropriate to the planetary view?
As an aside, I did create a "globe" version I made from the map. Does this have any redeeming qualities?
If not, is there any way to salvage the existing "land structure" and make it better fit a more accurate projection style? The world I am trying to build is specifically designed around the 2 large bodies of lad and the major island island "continent" chain. Its rather critical to the structure of the fluff of the world.
What would you recommend as a way for an amateur to begin making a cartography accurate world map? How do you begin with a proper projection and get the land mass to fit the proper curvature and distortion? Can this only be done with existing vector software that generates them (like Fractal Terrains)? Do you recommend any other styles/tutorials over this one? I have to agree that the more I look at this style, it might work well for small scale maps, but the scale seems drastically off for a planetary world map.
As for terrain, this map, to me has more detail than it should actually. When compared to a topographic map of the Earth, it shows far more detail. Again, appropriate to a much smaller scale, but not so much on the world scale. I was trying to use this style to mimic the very basic view seen in these style of maps (you can basically see water, mountains, sand, ice and green for pretty much everything else).
Example:
Any suggestions are welcome, and I have access to a number of programs currently and am looking at 2 others. It is rather daunting when trying to figure out how best to approach making such a map and how so many different tools interact.
-- Have: Photoshop, Gimp, Wilbur, Fractal Terrains, PaintShop
-- Looking at: Astrosynthesis & Fractal Mapper
The issue I am having is being able to blend this basic concept of the world into the typical "randomizer" programs. Would you recommend simply using a randomizer like Fractal Terrains and trying to make it work, or is there a decent way to use a Photoshop "cloud" layer to use as the basis in something like Fractal Terrain?
As for the labels, you are correct that I simply used the existing Text tool in Photoshop that lets you shape the words (Flag shape in this case). The letters are already spread by using the spacing option in the tool though, but I hadn't thought of stretching them over the entire area of the map fearing that their size would overcome any other details of the map. Also, is there a tutorial on how to set the text on a Path? I simply added them as individual text shape layers.
Again, thank for any and all input. I apologize if some of this is rather rambling, but its already well past time to be in bed before work tomorrow.
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