New to Digital Cartography? Software General Information

[inellgilsta]

I am using adobe photoshop because I'm more comfortable using it.

[dpmcalister]

These are the tools I'll be using for my maps:

Paint Shop Pro 7: I bought this about 8 years ago when I started designing websites and, even though it is a bit old (), it still does the job for me. I'd love to try PhotoShop but the price is too much for my small wallet

Dundjinni: Received a copy of the Platinum Edition when it was first released to review and have kept using it ever since. Mainly small scale maps, but I did reproduce a keep from a Hellfrost scenario I ran (as part of the Triple Ace Games Demo Team) at UK Games Expo last year. Printed it out battlemap size, laminated it, taped it all together, and then cut out each room so I could place them down as the players entered them. I still have the laminated version and I think (hope?) that the original is still of the hard drive of my old laptop (the only bit I could salvage from it )

Fractal Mapper 8: I was able to pick up Fractal Mapper 7 on eBay for a couple of pounds and liked what I saw so bought the upgrade to v8. Not had a chance to create any proper maps with it yet, but I'm looking forward to learning

Wacom Bamboo One: I've treated myself to this tablet and pen to help in creating maps because I find it very difficult to drawn landmasses with a mouse. I don't actually get to use it until my birthday in 3 weeks (as it's, officially, a present) but I did get a quick play with it when it first arrived (to make sure it worked, of course ). I can see that it'll take a little getting used to, but I'm hopeful that it will be better than the mouse.

[Mark Oliva]

Fractal Mapper 8: I was able to pick up Fractal Mapper 7 on eBay for a couple of pounds and liked what I saw so bought the upgrade to v8. Not had a chance to create any proper maps with it yet, but I'm looking forward to learning

You might want to check out our free, 222-page PDF tutorial Raster Mapping With FM8. It covers a lot of material that isn't in the official NBOS tutorial. You can get it at:

http://www.vintyri.org/vintyri/vccindex.htm