Hello from Chile!

[Teivel]

Hi, I'm new to this forum and to the whole cartographer thing too.
Right now I'm a Highschool student so I'll be mostly leeching off all the tutorials from this thread.

I like to write and draw and that's what brought me here, I don't know how often I will use this account, but as I'm currently learning how to make a satisfactory map I will be here for a long time, though mostly lurking in the shadows searching for all the information I want.

Currently I'm trying to build a map for my story to picture the world better and be able to build a better lore with close to no plot holes, this way I can calm my perfectionist urges and make some quality content.

I don't plan to give up though I may take some long breaks and redo a lot of stuff, (the story I'm writing was originally ~68.000 words long, I rewrote it because I wasn't satisfied with the quality of the work, rightfully so, and now I've written ~12.000, though I like how it looks now a lot more than before, that took me a year to do. It also means that my writing speed is about 6.000 words per month)

I have a lot of plans and ideas but firs I want to focus on making the map of the world, and as such I'll be dwelling in this forum for at least this year. Once I finish I plan to gather up all the information I used and make a Post about how it was done and wich places where helpful. I'm starting from zero so I think it'll be useful for users like me who don't know left from right in this type of hobby.

I'd appreciate any help from the Community and though I may be a bit unresponsive I'll try to say my thanks every time and reply within three days, from previous experience I wont be promising anything, but I'll try to at least.

[Greg]

Hi Teivel, glad to have you with us on the forum. I only recently joined too intending to draw a couple of D&D maps and didn't expect much from my own commitment though have strangely found myself drawn in. As you say mapping is always good for filling in gaps in work and I'm sure this process will help with your world building.



If you haven't already take a look at ravells' Quickstart guide: http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?t=4276 . It's mostly aimed at mapping using GIMP or Photoshop, but if like me you do far more pencil/ink drawn maps, it still has plenty of useful tips and bits of advice!

Happy mapping and look forward to seeing your creations!

[Chick]

Hello Teivel, Welcome to the Guild!

To get you started, there is a great tutorial in the sticky section of Tutorials, called
Quickstart Guide to Fantasy Mapping: http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?t=4276

From there, go to
Hand Drawn Mapping for the Artistically Challenged: http://www.cartographersguild.com/sh...ad.php?t=10655

Once you have completed those two tutorials, you'll be well on your way!!

[Vhey]

I think making your map will help you craft your story too.

[Teivel]

Thanks!
Specially to the people who gave suggestions on guides, but also to the other ones who just came to say hello, I'm happy to see that there are so many people saying welcome to me.

I'm planning to make a few hand drawn tests first then copy them in Gimp or Inkscape, then start thinking about how it would be populated, the placement of kingdoms/cities, local specialties, etc.

Because I'm going to be very detailed on everything I do, it may take me a long time (also, my friend is pulling me away trying to make me play terraria, and I always fall in).

[Jaxilon]

Depending on your artistic preference those two programs will do you quite well. I started out with those myself. My personal preference with them would be to do the map in Gimp, the labels in Inkscape as a layer and import it back into Gimp. That's how I did my Elechos map anyway. I point it out so you know you know you have tools that will do the job. I think it took me about 2 or 3 years part time to get where I could do that however. If you put more time in I'm sure you can beat that learning curve.

The main difference in them is Gimp is raster based wherase Inkscape is vector based. They both have advantages, so it depends on which you prefer. In my opinion Inkscape being vector is more cartoonish but unbeatable when you want strong lines or edges such as with labels. Vector also scales to any size without getting weird so that's nice if you want a wall sized map. Gimp on the other hand makes it easier to paint something that screams realism.

I doubt everyone agrees with me and I have seen some really killer maps done entirely in both these products.

So have fun, keep the faith, and map on!