Wonderdraft vs Inkarnate Premium

[SirTennant]

Hello, first of all, I'm sorry if this is not the right place to ask as Inkarnate is probably not even considered a software since it's only in a web browser (as far as I'm aware) but I didn't know where else to ask.
I'm not even sure if anyone has any experience with these two map-making tools as they are not even listed in the "List of Mapping Software" and I haven't seen either mentioned anywhere on the forums, but as I mentioned, I don't know where else to ask.

I'm sure this debate has been debated many times over, however, I want to ask for a recent opinion.

Basically, I have experience with both but with Inkarnate it's very limited as I've never finished a map in Inkarnate and I've used Inkarnate only during the times when even the Premium version was quite barebones (in my opinion), so like 1 day after purchasing Inkarnate premium I went on to search for alternatives and found Wonderdraft which at that point in time just seemed superior in every way (including the fact that it was a one-time payment). But I've heard that over the time Inkarnate has gotten many great updates and I haven't been keeping up, so idk what's the deal with Inkarnate now.

Now, don't get me wrong I'm totally satisfied with Wonderdraft as I've been working with it for over a year, but I like to try different things and I'm thinking about going back and trying out Inkarnate again but I don't want to regret spending that subscription money again.

Recently I've heard more positive things about Inkarnate tho, like that they update quite frequently, listen to community feedback and that for cities it's better than Wonderdraft.

So what's your opinion/experience on this? I'd like to hear!

[Turambar]

I can't speak much to Inkarnate, though from what I have seen it is very limited stylistically. If you like the Inkarnate art style, then perhaps it is worth paying for, but otherwise it seems quite limited compared to Wonderdraft.

I am primarily a Gimp user, but I started out using Wonderdraft quite a bit and I find it to be very versatile in what you can do with it. I still use Wonderdraft in my workflow for some maps, and then export as layers (Multiplane) to integrate in Gimp. The nice thing about Wonderdraft is that it is highly customizable and allows you to create in virtually any style you can think of.

[Cédric H.]

Through my map making journey I went from inkarte to pro then to wanderdrarft and now hand drawing them myself on photoshop.

My opinion is that inkarnate is more talked about because it is the program that allows you to create some really beautiful maps with almost no skills require, you just need a good eye for it. Pro allows you to create a few different style and different types of maps like world/regional, cities and dungeon. All the asstes work with each other because they are made in the same art style (most of them at least) however you are limited to what exists which is that very well recognized art style.



Wanderdraft does not allows you to create that many types of maps, you are limited to word/regional maps and cities if you have the assets for it. For dungeon maps you will need dungeondraft (from the same creators). There is not a lot of assets in it so in a way wanderdraft makes you have to search and download more assets created by other if you want more diversity which is sometime a problem because those assets are not made in the same art style and it is very noticeable in a map sometime. Personally, it bugged me, that is why, at that point in time, I started to create my own assets and import them in wanderdraft, which is a very cool feature that inkarnate does not have, however, the software has its limitation regarding quality, and some of the assets that I or others created had problem that originated form the software itself (visible pixelization for example). But Wanderdraft allows you more manipulation than inkarnate. You can isolate the layers and export them as png which you can modify in another software like photoshop for example so that create the opportunity to have different styles or color scheme than inkarnate, but it requires more skills and knowledge.

Both are similar and different but at the end of the day they do not give you that much freedom, one way or another. When I realized that and it became a problem for me, that’s when I made the jump to full hand draw maps though my style was very much influenced by both this softwares and from other amazing cartographers.

Hope that will help you.

[Stelliadi]

I used both and I think it really depends on what you're looking for.

Inkarnate's strengths are their assets, since they can be used to make some quick good looking maps.
I tried adding some custom assets too but I didn't find it too comfortable.

I like wonderdraft's terrain generation and the way you can add custom assets more easily.
I found it easier to use and more flexible than inkarnate, but it obviously lacks its assets.

In the end what I'm using right now is Clip Studio Paint, where I can draw directly or easily add custom assets, which I can then tag, search and drag and drop into the map.
It's also relatively easy to create custom brushes with your assets (like to place mountains, trees, etc.).
This is much more flexible than both solutions, but since it's a gimp/photoshop-like software, it's probably more suited if you want to draw a map by hand and edit assets directly (or make and use your own).

[sheldonl]

Just from a feature comparison, it seems that Inkarnate can do more than just world maps, but also cities, buildings, etc. Is that something that Wanderdraft can do? Looking at it, it seems to be just world maps.

[Turambar]

Just from a feature comparison, it seems that Inkarnate can do more than just world maps, but also cities, buildings, etc. Is that something that Wanderdraft can do? Looking at it, it seems to be just world maps.

I do not use wonderdraft for this, but if you look at the wonderdraft subreddit you will see many examples of city maps made in wonderdraft.

[JimboXL]

I do not use wonderdraft for this, but if you look at the wonderdraft subreddit you will see many examples of city maps made in wonderdraft.

Hi, Ill start in pen and fineliners, but wonder, I do have android tablet, but does play store have any good apps for making maps, or not nessessary anything too fancy, just a simple dungeons, very courious as Im absolutely not familiar with digital art, any information is appreciated. Thanks!