making maps

[Venser]

Hello :)

Can anyone tell me a good program for making maps?

So far I have been drawing all my maps on 1000x1000 paper, and now I am in a tight schedual and must finish one by friday, so I thought of giving some programs a try.

Note that I am looking for a simple program which will also allow me to make really detailed maps(i adore details)

[Yora]

I use photoshop and I've heard GIMP does about the same thing and is for free. It does take some time to get used to, though, so it might not make a good last minute solution.

[Venser]

I use photoshop and I've heard GIMP does about the same thing and is for free. It does take some time to get used to, though, so it might not make a good last minute solution.

Yeah, I've heared that a lot of people use photoshop, but unfortunately I never learned how to use it :/

[KoboldCleric]

I typically use GIMP (http://www.gimp.org/) because of its popularity and the volume of support that exists for it.

If you decide to go that route (and even if you don't), check out The Cartographers' Guild (http://www.cartographersguild.com/forumdisplay.php?48-Tutorials-How-To). I've linked you straight to the tutorials section of the forum; there is loads of great advice for most styles and nearly every type, and there are even tutorials on how to create quality maps quickly. Plus, you know, pretty maps for your viewing pleasure :D

[Zap Dynamic]

If you decide to go that route (and even if you don't), check out The Cartographers' Guild (http://www.cartographersguild.com/forumdisplay.php?48-Tutorials-How-To). I've linked you straight to the tutorials section of the forum; there is loads of great advice for most styles and nearly every type, and there are even tutorials on how to create quality maps quickly. Plus, you know, pretty maps for your viewing pleasure :D

Quoted for emphasis. The tutorials on that site will be your best bet for making a good quality map quickly.

As for other programs, you might consider Campaign Cartographer (http://www.profantasy.com/products/cc3.asp). It's not free, but it has a wide base of resources to draw upon, including tutorials on the Cartographer's Guild forums and YouTube. It also seems to be a little more focused/straightforward, and possibly easier to use than Photoshop.

[Thinker]

Campaign Cartographer 3 by Profantasy (http://www.profantasy.com/) is pretty good, especially for making maps quickly while still maintaining a high level of detail. There are some fan made tutorials on YouTube showing how to make maps in minutes.

[Immonen]

Map Tools (http://rptools.net/) does exactly what it says on the tin. A bit of a learning curve, but it comes with a pretty decent library of elements that you can put together with it.

[Edenbeast]

I draw my maps by hand, scan it, then I use gimp for a nice effect and it's done. For me it's the quickest and the results are very satisfying.

[Venser]

For those who use GIMP, how the hell do I fill my layer with black color? :O

[Yora]

I would assume select the layer, select the fill tool, set color to black.
And make sure the layer isn't hidden under other layers.

[Eldan]

Layers in GIMP are a pain to work with, yeah. I use it to make my maps too. Usually, when it acts annoying, the only way I've found is making a new layer and putting my colour in there.

[Calliope121]

I use Campaign Cartographer, although I wouldn't reccomend it if you're not willing to go through several hours of YouTube videos to figure out how to use it. So far it has produced VERY professional maps.