Standing on the shoulders of giants

[Anna Robinson]

Hi there. I'm really new to cartography, but have jumped in at the deep end.

I downloaded photoshop yesterday and I have a wacom tablet coming tomorrow.

I figured it would be healthy to ask for any tips, from the people who have probably already made mistakes and thought 'God I wish I'd known that when I began'

I've had a good trawl through the tutorials and had a go at making some maps already but I figure it's best for me to learn fully once my tablet arrives.

So any photoshop presets, or tablet presets? And little gems of advice which will make me learning easier?

Thanks you Hope to be here for a long time!

[Jaxilon]

I can't think of much. Settings will depend on what tablet you got and how you like to work. I think you will figure those out pretty fast because some repetitive things will bug you so you will just go make the change.

Using PS I would say a big help would be to know how to use masks and work in a non-destructive way. I think we have all at one time or another had to burn a few hours redoing something we trashed because we didn't know better at the time. Masks can allow you to go back and make changes without really having to hack up your artwork. There is a great tutorial in here somewhere but if you already know about them then no need.

It might take a few tries to get used to the feeling of the pen since as good as it is, it's not the same as paper or canvas. Not knowing what you are coming from it's hard to say but just try using it for a while. I know some folks here have used the stylus instead of the mouse to play some games to force themselves to get used it.

Welcome aboard!

[Midgardsormr]

Desktop Tower Defense is a great game for learning to use the tablet.

Ravells' excellent non-destructive Photoshop mapping tutorial is a great place to learn some best practices:
http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?t=5240

And for symbol-based and isometric mapping in PS:
Using the Clone Stamp Tool for Better Brush Work

Dungeon mapping:
http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?t=716

[Carnifex]

Ok. A few tips (apart from what the others said):
Learn how to use the layers. It's alot but rewarding.
Learn how to use Layer Styles. I love layer styles and it's not hard to learn if you do it step by step.
Learn how to use the brushes. Not hard and you can experiment alot.

And... Use the space bar + left mouse btn to move the image around. Zoom with the alt key + mouse wheel!

[waldronate]

This isn't a tip so much as a warning about software packages (and nothing that you should take personally): "It has been said that the great scientific disciplines are examples of giants standing on the shoulders of other giants. It has also been said that the software industry is an example of midgets standing on the toes of other midgets." - Alan Cooper.

[Anna Robinson]

Thanks guys! great help

I'm currently going through a load of youtube "how to learn tutorials" - Illustrator at the moment

And lol at that quote Waldronate!

[ravells]

I love this! Thanks for the laugh, Waldronate.

"It has been said that the great scientific disciplines are examples of giants standing on the shoulders of other giants. It has also been said that the software industry is an example of midgets standing on the toes of other midgets." - Alan Cooper.

Anna, if you are brand new to Photoshop I found that the key to all of this is:

a. A sense of play and exploration - press buttons, play with stuff to see what it does.
b. developing a sense of frustration when you don't get the look you want which drives you learn more to find it.

There are tutorials over over the web for PS and each will teach you a little more. Start simple until you get a feel for the basic tools.

[johnvanvliet]

as to software

99.99% of all the software i use
From the Operating System to image editing programs are under the General Public License or Creative commons or MIT or Apache licenses

you do not really need to spend cash or a lot of cash

[waldronate]

as to software

99.99% of all the software i use
From the Operating System to image editing programs are under the General Public License or Creative commons or MIT or Apache licenses

you do not really need to spend cash or a lot of cash

I think the point that John is advocating here is that the acquisition cost is usually a very small part of the total cost of the software, be it commercial or open source. There is a very good chance that you're going to be spending hundreds of hours to learn whatever software you select, meaning that even a low valuation on your time is likely going to represent far more than the price of the software package itself.