Getting back into it

[LonewandererD]

Hi Y'all,

I've been gone for a while, so long i doubt anyone remembers me, but now i'm trying to get back into cartography but I've hit a snag. I've been off doing other things for so long and i have long since misplaced or allowed to lapse any program or brush set i used to work with. I used to work with Photoshop CS3 but upon looking at the adobe store and creative cloud I'm a little hesitant to invest in a program i know so little of, is it worth it to go back to Photoshop for map-making or are there other alternatives? Is Gimp still a thing? Never learned it but always knew it produced good results.

-D-

[Ilanthar]

Welcome back LonewandererD! Hey, you were here before me!
Gimp is definitely still a thing. I would also recommend Krita if you're a tablet user (it's also a free software).

Looking forward to see your new mapping projects.

[Falconius]

Krita is good. I went after Clip Studio Paint when J. Edward recommended it as it was on sale, and honestly I love it, so you might wait for a sale on that as well. Again you'll want a tablet though.

[J.Edward]

Welcome back
There are several good free choices.
And there are some really good low cost choices too.
Clip Paint/Manga Studio is a great program, to be sure, if you can get it at a reduced cost.
EDIT - It is on discount at the moment.
Full price isn't terrible either. I use it often, though not solely yet.
I had already made a lot of custom brushes in PS and haven't yet replicated them in Manga studio.

But there are a lot of good options.
I did this article a while back, which needs a part two at this point.
I can list some other interesting options when I get back later today.
Off the top of my head....
Medibang Paint Pro, Krita, Gimp, Clip Paint studio, Mischief, Sketchbook, Opencanvas, Painttool SAI, Affinity Photo, Artrage, Paintstorm Studio, ... might be more.
I myself am trying to move somewhat away from adobe and possibly even windows if I can.
But I do this professionally so, it might just mean a work unit with windows and adobe and then a second linux unit.

[LordEntrails]

I point people to this post; https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forum...ftware-summary
The discussion is mostly from a hobby perspective and not a professional one, but still has lots of good comments.

[kacey]

I think I prefer Krita over Gimp for free software these days but if I weren’t using Photoshop I’d probably find reasons to use them both regularly and like the others have stated if you want to spend a little money but not too much Clip Studio is really a great programme and I think they have deals often enough, I picked it up for a really good price and it was worth every penny. If you’re wanting to spend more Corel Painter is also a really nice one though a little harder to learn in my opinion, the brush system is really confusing to me but once you get the hang of it you really can’t argue the results, it has the most authentic simulation of water colour I’ve ever seen though it runs better on a more powerful computer.

If I wasn’t so hell bent on doing everything on my surface tablet I would use Corel Painter the most but I just hate sitting at the desk and photoshop above all is the most touch friendly painting app for sure so it’s what I use for that reason alone, but I have to give props to Clip Studio for that too, it could do a little better on palm rejection but over all it works pretty darn good on the tablet.

You could make maps with any one of these programmes no problem.

And welcome back! I’m a big fan of you’re Adallia map so even though I wasent around when you were here before you were not forgotten.

[J.Edward]

I just finished up a new article talking about some new options for paint programs.
I just posted it. It's an extension of the first one from back in 2015.
New one... https://www.cartographersguild.com/c...Revisited-2018
Older one... https://www.cartographersguild.com/c...and-Paint-Maps

Between those two, you should be covered for drawing and painting maps.
I need to do another with apps like Wilbur, Fractal Terrains, 3d apps, and things like Campaign Cartographer and such.
But I'm gonna need help with that article. Maybe I'll enlist Waldronate.

[Jaxilon]

Hey lw, I totally remember you but I'm a geezer around here now ��.

I have the Adobe subscription but that gives me a bunch of programs I don't even use.

I do like Artrage and am using it right now for the first time to paint a map for my entry to the guild world project. You can see the results over there if you want to see how it goes.

I used gimp when I first started digital work and it's pretty awesome but for a couple things I had issues with. I was on the previous version so it may be even better now.

Anyway, I look forward to seeing you make some more stuff.

[ladiestorm]

Hey Wanderer! If I remember correctly, you were one of the ones that welcomed me when I first got here! I've pulled a couple of disappearing acts myself, so I know how it goes.

I'm still using cc3+, but I know it's not for everyone. Especially with the learning curve... and it's not free. But then, I'm not the one to ask about different programs out there... so I'm just going to say welcome back!