How do I outline islands in GIMP?

[lunchboxx]

I'm a VERY new map maker, and I'm sort of learning as I go, as well as checking out a few tutorials here and there. But I've hit a bit of a bump in the road in making maps, in that for Caribbean style maps, the shallow waters look does not make the islands stand out to well.

So how do I outline them better & make them island out from the water?

Picture of my WIP map islands wip 2.png

[Ghostman]

I honestly can't see what you're talking about. Because to me those islands do appear to stand out. In fact, in my eyes they stand out way too much. The water doesn't seem to get shallower (ie. showing the sea floor gradually fading out) near the shores, which leads to the impression that the islands are floating in the air somewhere above the water.

But if you really are determined to make them stand out even more, you could try applying a black stroke outline on a selection containing the islands.

[lunchboxx]

A couple of my gaming buddies said that the islands don't stand out to well, which lead me to asking here. I personally see them just fine, but I guess some people dont have as good eyesight as me.

Thanks for the feedback anyways.

EDIT: Also it might appear to be floating islands because I have NO IDEA how to make good looking shores.

[Ghostman]

I think the problem is that the depth of the sea on that map is completely random and independent of the placement of the islands. You'd expect the water to be at it's shallowest (lightest colour) right by the islands' coastlines, with the deepest waters (darkest colour) being a good distance off the shores. As the map is right now, you've got dry land suddenly popping into the surface from where the water should be deep.