Hello Everyone :)

[Mannfred]

Hello,
This is Mannfred from India. I am a final year Computer Applications student and an aspiring epic fantasy artist. I am still in the stage of mapping my worlds when I arrived at a teenie weenie problem - I do not know how to map a continent. So, I googled for a while and came here to learn from the Pros. And frankly, I am blasted away by all these exotic maps I could see here. I hope to learn how to sketch out a decent set of maps for my novel. It is an epic fantasy as I said and so requires lots of detailed mapping.

Please point me in the right direction if you have the spare time to reply. I am currently looking at some of the Quickstart guides. Thank you very much for this forum. I'm being inspired from my bones.

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Mannfred

[Port Paladine]

Welcome! And you are right. I was speechless when I saw all the great mappers on this site. But to start you off, look at a guy named "Ascension" he has some excellent tutorials. I think I can post a link to them.

http://www.cartographersguild.com/se...=1&forumchoice

[Steel General]

Welcome Aboard!

There are plenty of great tutorials in the Tutorial Forum

[Mannfred]

Thank you for your links. I am reading the tutorials and trying to make them apply for my maps. I have a questions though. I am good at hand-drawing map outlines then drawing with the mouse. And I cannot afford a tablet right now. So, can anyone give me a suggestion on how to port my hand drawn maps to the image editors and use it just as if it had been drawn in it? I tried taking a photo of it with my mobile phone at 1600x1200 resolution and use it in Photoshop. But, the image is not the same as a canvas... Am I doing it the COMPLETELY wrong way?


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Mannfred

[Jaxilon]

Well, I started out using my digital camera as well but a friend of mine gave me a scanner he no longer needed and that has worked very well for me. So, if you have a scanner, that is probably the best.

If you have to use your camera I think the main thing you want to pay attention to is the number of pixels your shots are being taken in. Then make sure the document you are importing it to is the same. (I'm guessing this is the what caused "the images is not the same as a canvas"?)

Oh, and welcome to the guild.

[Mannfred]

(I'm guessing this is the what caused "the images is not the same as a canvas"?)

Yes. The image looks like an photo placed in the canvas. My camera can take a picture of a maximum of 2MP(1600x1200 in my system pixel count). My canvas is around 2000x2000 pixel large. So, if I use a 1600x1200 pixel canvas, it should be alright. I'll try it and reply. If it doesn't work, I might have to pay and get my outlines scanned in a booth... I do not own a scanner nor can I buy one now. Thanks for the reply.

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Mannfred

[Mannfred]

I tried placing the image in the same size canvas. It still looks exactly like a photo shot from a camera... So, I did this: I traced the outline with a selection tool, got the exact outline, pasted it in another layer and filled it with a solid black. This roughly gave me the shape of my continent. I deleted the background photo containing layer and made the new layer my background and continued working on it. I think this is one way of doing it.

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Mannfred

[jtougas]

Welcome to the Guild

[Korash]

well, it sounds to me like you got a decent work around. Post up a WIP (Work In Progress) thread and we can actually see how things are going, and give help and/or suggestions as you go.

And welcome to the Guild, the Mappiest Place on the Web

[Mannfred]

well, it sounds to me like you got a decent work around. Post up a WIP (Work In Progress) thread and we can actually see how things are going, and give help and/or suggestions as you go.

Done. Posted. Its here. Please take a look. thanks.

And welcome to the Guild, the Mappiest Place on the Web

Thanks. I'm pleased to be here too.

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Mannfred