From Paint to Professional

[Fotta]

Hey All. I was working on my campaign, and a friend reccomended this site, so I figured I would come and ask for some assistance. I have created a map for aforementioned campaign, but considering my lack of artistic expertise, it is rudimentary at best. I was wondering if anyone would consider taking some time to help me in upgrading it, perhaps making it look more professional than it's current, rather cartooney design. Any help would be appreciated, thanks for your time.

P.S. If you would like any information about the reasoning behind certain continents or symbols and what their shapes mean, I would be happy to clarify.

[RobA]

Hi Fotta-

Any suggestions on map styles that you would prefer? (either describe or just provide links to maps on the net that inspire you )

-Rob A>

[Fotta]

It was actually this map that gave me the idea for the suggestion. http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=1042981
(From the spoiler block in the second post)

I don't need anything fully detailed, or with colour. If it could be dated, as the example, that would be preferable, but not neccessary. Otherwise, I am simply looking for a more professional appearance to the map I created, one that would be at home in a fantasy setting of old.

[jfrazierjr]

It was actually this map that gave me the idea for the suggestion. http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=1042981
(From the spoiler block in the second post)

I don't need anything fully detailed, or with colour. If it could be dated, as the example, that would be preferable, but not neccessary. Otherwise, I am simply looking for a more professional appearance to the map I created, one that would be at home in a fantasy setting of old.

I guess part of the question is do you want to learn how to draw maps or are you willing to pay to have someone do the work for you. Time is also a factor in either case as paid jobs tend to get completed quicker than unpaid. If time is a hugh factor for you, you may most likely need to pay someone or do it yourself in most cases. Many people here will do maps for free if the content is interesting to them, but usually they do so slowly in their spare time as they can.


If you are willing to spend a bit of time to do it yourself, post your works in progress here in a thread in the correct forum every day(or more often if needed), then listen and implement the advice given back, you could fairly easily copy most the style of this map yourself using GIMP (free) or any of several other pieces of software depending on what you have or are willing to buy.



Joe

[ravells]

Piece of cake, Fotta. What software do you have? You could do this with a digital camera, a teabag, some paper, some water and the Gimp (which is free). And I believe that all the tutorials to do this are on this site.:: edit:: oh, you'll need an oven too, but i'm assuming you have one of those.

[Fotta]

No, there are almost no time constraints. I probably won't be actually using this map for almost three months, so I've got some time. If someone volunteers to do the map on their own time, that would be phenominal, but after reading several of the tutorials, it shouldn't be terribly hard to figure out myself. And like jfrazierjr said, there are always places to ask for help if I get stuck.

oh, you'll need an oven too, but i'm assuming you have one of those.

Okay, I assume you mean browning the paper with tea water, then simply uploading the pictures, but where does the oven come into play? Perhaps to dry the paper?

[ravells]

That's the one!

I think you should try to do it yourself. It's not a difficult effect to achieve. Download Gimp and I'll point you in the right direction.