First digital map - WIP

[Cartography Dragon]

Began my first ever map using GIMP today. Going for a hand-drawn, old paper/parchment with ink look.



The good:
-Using the Dodge/Burn tool on burn with some jitter and style set to 'sand dunes' breaks up the solid tan colors and adds a lot of depth.
-Mountains are pretty good (I think, anyway) for having used a mouse.
-Rivers are decent.

The bad:
-I decided I don't want the grey border, but I CANNOT GET IT TO GO AWAY. Aaaaaaagh.
-Downloaded 'Aniron' font. Can't figure out how to add it to GIMP for use.
-The coastline and rivers look pixelated. Maybe I needed a higher ppi? I think I used the default (whatever that is).

The to-do:
-Forests. I'll probably hand draw these. It'll take a long time using the mouse though.
-Icons. I'm planning to enlarge a brush and just click for nice diamond, circle, and square shapes.
-Labeling. If I can get 'Aniron' onto GIMP, this should be a cinch. Theoretically.
-Compass rose. I'll probably just use a big N and an arrow.
-Legend. Not going to think about this yet.
-Border. Not going to think about this yet.

Any tips, tricks, help, or suggestions are most welcome. Thanks!

[ChickPea]

You're off to a nice start and your mountains look great, especially for being mouse-drawn!

For the grey border, if you figure out what layer it's on, try using the 'Select by Colour' tool on it. Since it seems to be a solid block of colour, you should be able to select it all at once then hit the delete key and you should be left with a transparent area (unless you've something else underneath).

For your font installation, what operating system are you using? If it's Windows, you can copy the font into the Windows system folder (I think it's just Windows / Fonts) Gimp does have its own folders for fonts too. I had to Google as I'm not sure where Windows puts things, but this article hopefully explains clearly.

For your pixellated lines, yeah, they do seem a little blocky. What type of brush did you use to drawn the lines, and do you have antialiasing turned on? Sometimes drawing with the path tool, rather than a paint brush, can help with this.

[Cartography Dragon]

Thanks you so much for the help, ChickPea! I was able to get the font working and delete the grey bit, and I used the Ink tool to write over the border and problematic rivers. They look much better now. I also used the Airbrush tool to eliminate the pesky little blue spots that can be seen in the original pic.

Then I decided to shade my mountains, and used the Dodge/Burn tool. Oh my, I love that tool now. Using the brush setting 'Sand Dunes (AP)' It's great for adding texture and shading. I'm very, very happy with how my mountains have turned out.

### Latest WIP ###



On to my usual list!

The good:
-Eliminated all entries in the previous 'The bad' category.
-Got rid of those blue specks. They were REALLY bothering me.
-Saved the best for last. I love how the mountains turned out so, so much.

The bad:
-Nothing. While I still have a lot to do, nothing stands out as an issue that needs to be fixing.

The to-do:
-Forests. I'll probably hand draw these. It'll take a long time using the mouse though.
-Icons. I'm planning to enlarge a brush and just click for nice diamond, circle, and square shapes.
-Labeling. I got the font I want to use onto GIMP, so this step shouldn't take too much time.
-Compass rose. All I need now is a nice looking arrow.
-Legend. Should be fairly straightforward.
-Border. The future is looking much brighter now. I'll probably add some nice decorations in the corner and call it a day, but we'll see.

Again, any tips, tricks, help, or suggestions are most welcome.

[Cartography Dragon]

I found some lovely hand drawn tree images by Neyjour. I scaled down and placed a bunch on my map to see what I thought, and I rather like the result. I do want to see what some other guild members think before I make it final though.



A good way to do my forests quickly and nicely, or a jarringly different style?

[Falconius]

I don't know I find them to be stylistically very different. Perhaps if you altered them and sharpened their lines it might fit better?

[Cartography Dragon]

I don't know I find them to be stylistically very different. Perhaps if you altered them and sharpened their lines it might fit better?

That sounds like a good idea. Could you tell me how to do that? I'm a noob

[Falconius]

I can try *shrug*

Ok so, in GIMP brushes window right click and choose to open the brush as an image. Then choose the select by colour option and set the threshold pretty high (100 maybe) and click on the black of the tree. make sure the black is all selected then hit the bucket tool and change it to fill the whole selection. If the background is not already transparent, then you can just cut that selection out and make a new image and paste it in there. Here is a link how to make brushes in GIMP which I totally forgot how to https://www.gimp.org/tutorials/Custom_Brushes/ . One thing to avoid is doing them in greyscale, I know this because I made a bunch in greyscale and it causes nothing but headaches.

[Cartography Dragon]

I can try *shrug*

Ok so, in GIMP brushes window right click and choose to open the brush as an image. Then choose the select by colour option and set the threshold pretty high (100 maybe) and click on the black of the tree. make sure the black is all selected then hit the bucket tool and change it to fill the whole selection. If the background is not already transparent, then you can just cut that selection out and make a new image and paste it in there. Here is a link how to make brushes in GIMP which I totally forgot how to https://www.gimp.org/tutorials/Custom_Brushes/ . One thing to avoid is doing them in greyscale, I know this because I made a bunch in greyscale and it causes nothing but headaches.

Thanks! I redid the forests and added some shading, what do you think of this?

### Latest WIP ###

[Cartography Dragon]

Added icons and labels.

### Latest WIP ###




To-do: Legend and border.

[Azélor]

The mountains remind me of what I<m doing (not over yet) on my map https://www.cartographersguild.com/s...t=33683&page=5

Maybe you could do something similar with the forest but by drawing the trees in groups instead of individually. Not sure why I decided to do that to begin with.