When you hate your map...

[Hai-Etlik]

Would it be too much trouble for you to choose a map that I have posted in the past two or three months and show me an example of where I went wrong?

If Hai-Etlik does a full critique on map labels for you I will be paying close attention because I still think I can learn a lot about how to do them, so thanks for volunteering to jump in front of the bus

I'll try to find some time this long weekend. To be honest, I'm merely a hobbyist in this myself although I have worked with a professional cartographer (she writes textbooks on the subject)

There's no doubt that labels are very important to a map. I have been basing mine on this very excellent tutorial "Positioning Names on Maps" by Eduard Imhof:

http://www.mapgraphics.net/downloads...es_on_Maps.pdf

Yes, Positioning Names on Maps is my main source on this subject as well.

[fabio p]

I love my maps when I start drawing them, I hate them in the middle – final steps and most of them are resting in peace on my hard drive, never to come out (otherwise I would have more unfinished maps here than Diamond).

Sometimes I realize I’m not going where I aimed, sometimes I can’t solve an issue (or an alleged such).
Like, that slime blob I would like to be a forest, is not fitting with the rest of the map, or that fuc##ng drawing, I would have drawn a sword and it looks like a banana. And that dragon on the shield, it’s a baby penguin now. But I wanted a dragon. And so everything comes to an halt.
That’s the reason I like to join the challenges: because I feel more compelled to finish whatever I start.

P.s.: Labelling is a real nightmare for me, the choice of style, kerning and positioning belong to the arcane plane of things.
But one day, a super comprehensive labeling tutorial will come and enlighten me and people like me.