Entering Cartographers' Guild :)

[Ωmega(π)]

Hi to all!

First of all, I would like to say that I am fascinated by this forum!! Actually I never thought it existed something like the "Cartographers' Guild".

Now about introducing my self. I am from Greece and live in the lovely coastal city of Piraeus, I study marine engineering and in my free time, as many of you may also do, I write fantasy novels. I always liked to dedicate myself to the worlds of my imagination, trying to give them life and depth by constructing unique languages for their people, giving them unique culture or even creating their own music or architecture. I joined this forum because as you may have already know, one essential part for the creation of a fantasy world is the design of its land masses, seas and oceans. I think that I am good in handmade maps but I totally suck in designing them by the use of computer, due to I lack the basic knowledge of Photoshop...

I have tried to use some other programs that are used for marine engineering, such as Rhino or Auto Cad, but the results were terrible, actually they were horrific..!!!!

So, I would like very much to know the techniques and methods that you are using in order to get those wonderful maps!

One area that I could be of assistance is..
For anyone who wants any kind of building (temple, palace etc...) or ship, from his fantasy world to be designed in a CAD program, I would gladly like to help.

Thank you for reading!!!
My excuses for any grammatical errors that may have occurred, English is not my first language..