best mapping sofware

[jackleith]

hi, new to the site so thanks in advance for any help.

My enquiry re best software for creating maps. Is it standard adobe - ps, id & illustrator etc or is there any bespoke or other software for creating good-looking, accurate maps?

thanks, jackleith

[jfrazierjr]

hi, new to the site so thanks in advance for any help.

My enquiry re best software for creating maps. Is it standard adobe - ps, id & illustrator etc or is there any bespoke or other software for creating good-looking, accurate maps?

thanks, jackleith

Please don't take this the wrong way, but this is somewhat pointless question without more context. "best", "good-looking" are just too subjective. I would suggest the first approach is to perhaps find a few maps in the finished maps forum you like and then see what the artist used... Most artist's profile shows the tools they use and sometimes they put it into the post itself(for cases where one artist might use several different tools over time). If you want "accurate", you likely want to go with a GIS program. If you want artistic, then something like Photoshop, GIMP, Paint.Net,etc... might be best... In any event, it's much more about the artist than the tools...