January Entry : Port Maglie Waterfront

[Jaxilon]

Ok, I am doing most everything for the first time here so I am not sure how to really tackle the concept however, this is where I started (Not sure if this is where I will continue):

I'm looking at the Port Magalie 'Waterfront Market' area. I figure I need to pull that area in and start defining it so I do that. I take a screen shot and then draw in all my building lines. (I don't know if I will design all of them yet but at least as many as I have time for.)

Below is what I have. Now, the problem is that even though I'm zoomed in around 500x it's still the same size as the original. I don't know about you but I've got a problem drawing anything more in there, LOL. Using the scale provided on the original map 1 pixel is 10 feet (unless I screwed that up). This means many of my market buildings are like 40' x 40' in size which is fine but at the moment they are only 4 pixels wide.

Question for those who know: Do I just create a new image at say 400 x 400 and draw that way or do you just blow out the stops, go large, and scale down later? Is this something I just need to experiment with and find my own method?

pfft, I used a transparent layer so the thumb looks odd. Guess I should have used a white one to draw on. Easier to see what I'm looking at if you view image. HA! See, there is no zoom, the thumb is the actual size. I need to go visit the super collider and split my pixels so I have something to work with.

[Immolate]

A small map pretty much kills it for me. Size is really situational, but I'd see a 2k x 2k map as a good standard, with detailed maps trending higher than that.

For the WIP, I recommend posting a full-sized JPG. The board will automatically thumb-nail it and allow viewers to click to see the larger image. The purpose of the WIP is to generate criticism after all, and it is hard to be critical of a thumbnail.

If I'm going to work from an original, like I did with my CERN map in the November challenge, I'll usually dump that into a layer, size it appropriately, then put it at the bottom of the stack and turn it on and off when I need to use it for reference. That way it doesn't matter how small or large the original was, since I'm only using it as a guide.

[Jaxilon]

Right, that sounds good, I'm just wondering how I get this to be 2k x 2k in size. I pulled in the original like you mentioned and have it as a layer for reference but it's the same size as what you see here.

I need to upscale this somehow? hmmm, that gives me an idea.

[Immolate]

Not sure the command in Gimp. In Photoshop it's Image/Image Size

[Redrobes]

Its probably a good idea to steal the original as a crop and then blow it up. In this case since the aspect (width / height) is < 1 (i.e. portrait) then something like 1500x2000 or whatever keeps it to the same ratio. If you want then go real large like 3000x4000 but then post something half size as your entry. Big is good but it can get a bit overwhelming cos most browsers deal with fit to screen or 1:1. Personally I find mapping bigger easier cos you can touch up mistakes better and then drop the size at the end and the errors get small. Trying to get each and every pixel right at 400x400 is so hard.

[Jaxilon]

Ok, in Gimp I think it is just 'Image>Scale' and set it to whatever you want. In any event this was a lot easier to blow up than I thought.

I just kept the pixel X,Y linked so it automatically stayed the same ratios and stuff.

So, I think I am making some progress.

[Ascension]

I hate when that happens...had PS do something like that to me once in a lightning storm. The way I got through it was to wash my hands of the thing and do something new. You could try to do a new version and just go for pure speed, download the last complete version from your thread here and start from there, or just use the last one as the entry and move on. At any rate, know that you're not alone in this happening and we all feel for ya.

[Jaxilon]

Thanks for the empathy. I did have to take a break. I ranted and raved, then went and flopped on the couch for a bit. After a while, I did exactly what you said, and pulled up my last post which was a couple of days worth of work behind where I was and said to myself, "Well, at least I'm getting techniques down and I am getting faster with the tools."

So I started plugging away at it again trying to remember what I had and just keep moving forward. We'll just have to see what I get done and live with it.

The lesson: Make a backup copy if you get to a point you don't want to loose. It's the first time I've ever lost more than I had at my last save in ANY software. I still can't believe it actually wiped my entire document out.

[Xyll]

I had teh same issues with Gimp it happens when something interupts the save process. Only those layers were saved when it crashes and it total overrights the file. Try multi save points also do not forget to periodically clear the history cache to keep the program from hogging up to much memory. ido a lot of my stuff on a crappy computer that requires me to keep it below 100 mb for optimal funcionality.

[Jaxilon]

Where do you clear the history in Gimp, I'm not seeing it.

We have a storm of historic proportions going on here in Arizona right now. Our power was out all night last night until around 3am. The streets are full of water and more rain is supposedly coming. Obviously, I didn't get any work done on this. Since the storm is not over and I've got to head out for work, I'm going to post what I have done for now, just in case I don't get another chance.

### Latest WIP ###