Atlas of Asdel | Sohntu

[morne]

Hi Everyone,

Been awhile since I lasted posted a map. I have been taking the last month or so to get all of my data properly georeferenced so I can do all of my mapmaking in QGIS/ArcGIS Pro. I started out with QGIS, which works great for manipulating the data and analysis (GRASS is amazing!), but the labelling engine really let me down. Biggest issue I had was that the "hitbox" for determining label collisions seems to be, essentially, the entire text box surrounding the label. So if I want to have labels that have a high letter spacing, like for a Nation, with other labels for cities, rivers, etc. "in between" each letter, I can't really do that in QGIS. The Maplex label engine in ArcGIS Pro is absolutely phenomenal, and is much better about being precise with collisions, and generally just has better options than QGIS (as is expected when comparing a free tool to a paid solution). For the labelling engine alone, it was worth it to me to buy a basic ArcGIS Pro license. I am still using QGIS for any hardcore analysis or manipulation, since I'm obviously not going to shell out for the Spatial Analyst extension, but the final map gets put together in ArcGIS Pro.

Anyways, here's my first map out of ArcGIS Pro, with final touches being put together in Affinity Designer:

Sohntu.jpg

Sohntu
Sohntu is located the northernmost region of the Kadoran continent, bordered to the south by the Republic of Gyim. Much of the region was devastated during the Eternal War over 2000 years ago. At the time, Sohntu contained one of the last remaining Imperial Cults left over from the Age of Legend, and it's people today are descended from the survivors of the war, ruled over by the ancestral dynasty of the last remaining Atun (Mortal dieties that were worshipped during the Age of Legend). Although they engage in trade with other regions throughout the Plys Sea, they are largely very protective over their internal affairs, and not much is known about their culture.

[Tiana]

Looks great, I could see art like that in an encyclopedia or atlas...

If you get paid for your maps in any way, remember that your programs are a tax deductible thing, so, it might be worth it eventually? Affinity's really not bad. I find Designer more intuitive and easy to use than Illustrator, anyway. I stopped all association with Illustrator when I bought Affinity Designer, and it's mostly worked out! A few odd quirks and mysteries that are unidentifiable, but since I mostly just use it to put text on a curve... lol. Glad the combination is working for you. ArcGis is definitely not cheap, it's true... I've never tried it myself... the price is just too daunting for the maps I make.

[morne]

Looks great, I could see art like that in an encyclopedia or atlas...

If you get paid for your maps in any way, remember that your programs are a tax deductible thing, so, it might be worth it eventually? Affinity's really not bad. I find Designer more intuitive and easy to use than Illustrator, anyway. I stopped all association with Illustrator when I bought Affinity Designer, and it's mostly worked out! A few odd quirks and mysteries that are unidentifiable, but since I mostly just use it to put text on a curve... lol. Glad the combination is working for you. ArcGis is definitely not cheap, it's true... I've never tried it myself... the price is just too daunting for the maps I make.

Thank you so much for the compliment! I'm flattered that you think I could get paid for my maps, lol. Affinity products are great! They handle high-node vectors far better than illustrator. In fact, the second elevation level of that particular continent exceeds the node limit of illustrator. There are a few things that are annoyingly missing from Designer that Illustrator has, like the blend tool and vector pattern fills, but definitely not a deal-breaker. ArcGIS Pro has completely changed my workflow for the better, especially with regards to labelling, so it has been absolutely worth it to me (It's still far cheaper than an Adobe subscription!). If a mountain range goes through multiple regions, I can plop down a polygon with a name attached to it, and as I make maps of different regions, ArcGIS moves the label for the mountain to fit the current map view. When I have a continent with, geez I don't even know, hundreds of labels, I guess? Having the labelling engine take care of it saves me so much time.