Requesting advice to make maps faster

[Wingshaw]

My fellow cartographers and artists, I'd like to ask for your advice.

I've been around the Cartographers' Guild for a while, and my maps have varied from the - let's face it - unimpressive to some works of which I am truly proud. I consider myself to be a capable artist, but with one major flaw: all of my map-making is so terribly slow. I'm not a fast worker, at all. My map of the city of Brightwater took about a year and a half, and I've been working on a regional map commission (Ostrom) for the same amount of time (and it isn't even finished yet).

I recently asked J.Edward this same question, and he very generously offered some good advice. I am very grateful to him for the tips he provided. Now I would like to open up this discussion to the entire Guild - partly to get a range of opinions, but also in case there's anyone else out there, like me, struggling to complete things quickly.

So, does anybody have any tips, tricks or techniques that they can share with me to help me create artworks and maps faster? I'd welcome anything and everything you can suggest.

I'd also be keen to hear from anyone else who has struggled (or is struggling) to speed up their mapping. What slows you down and what have you/are you doing about it?

Cheers,
Wingshaw

[Redrobes]

If I had to apply my own advice to myself then I would say to lay off reading the guild all evening. I would also have to say that whatever J.E has told you is probably worth its weight in gold since as I am reading and typing this post he's chugging out a that bit of dungeon at some eye watering pace.

I dont use a pen tablet much but for those that do they seem fast at the hand sketching. I also believe that automating your processes can speed it up a lot. Get the computer to do the things computers do well. Unfortunately for me that makes my maps a bit sterile. Use a PC with enough RAM that it doesn't sit there hanging and paging out the memory to disk and back again. Save copies frequently and in sequence rather than on top of each other. If you lose something then you dont have to restart from scratch. Back up files to external USB drives for same reason. Get to know many programs and what their strengths are. Also get to know your best paint apps tool set well and get to know what each functions strengths are. I.e. use the right tool for the job. Sometimes thats the most comfortable tool but being comfortable with more tools doesnt hurt either. And sometimes a real old school pen is the best tool.

[Ilanthar]

By Redrobes
I would also have to say that whatever J.E has told you is probably worth its weight in gold since as I am reading and typing this post he's chugging out a that bit of dungeon at some eye watering pace.

Well, this, no doubt!

I'm a very slow cartographer myself... You're not alone in this case, believe me! Lately, as I'm doing comissions, I'm learning how to speed up my mapping work because it's a necessity. You have to identify what you can do fast and what needs to be done faster. If it's not possible to do it faster, well, it might be worth to try a different method, faster yet satisfying.
Another thing : some maps are a very long run... but, they are bits of materials you can reuse very quickly on new works.

My 2 cents... or 1 cent, since I'm working on 2 comissions for a very long time now (counting in months).

[Wired]

If you have the time for it, build yourself a repository of recurring elements. Depending on what kind of programme you use that might be limited to lineart elements, but I've found it makes a ton of difference if you have your own stock of hills that you can simply drag and drop as it pleases you compared to drawing them all anew each time you start a map. I'll eventually expand that to mountains, drawn and shaded, using the clone stamp tool to place those. Some things simply may not be possible to streamline, depending on the preferred style (I'm thinking of forests) like forests. The rest really boils down to experience and structuring your work into a useful workflow going from A to Z.

[DanielHasenbos]

I pretty much agree with Wired on this. I have a folder called Map Elements with the basics. In that folder I've got a swatch set with my signature colors that I always use. Also things like rhumblines, city icons, patterns, my logo, my signature etc. Small stuff, but really helpful to reduce the time needed to complete the map. Furthermore I know exactly how I'm going to build up the map (this comes with experience), so I set up every layer and folder at the very beginning. Finally I stopped drawing little details that nobody is going to see anyways. I used to zoom in to 800% and draw tiny little details that disappeared entirely when viewing at 100%, let alone at print size.

[Wired]

Finally I stopped drawing little details that nobody is going to see anyways. I used to zoom in to 800% and draw tiny little details that disappeared entirely when viewing at 100%, let alone at print size.

That's something I've started doing, but my inner perfectionist finds it very hard to let go.
But yes, that's definitively something worth considering. Truth be told, using some rougher work often has a better effect because of how well it translates to print or to the actual depiction at 100%. It's one of those counter-intuitive things you have to get used to.

[ThomasR]

I agree about the feature library, that's the better way from my point of view, even if I still cannot resolve myself to use it for the mountains (and it's the longest part).

I usually work at 200 % for the details, not 800 % am I still ill ?

[Wingshaw]

Thanks for those suggestions, everyone.

I would also have to say that whatever J.E has told you is probably worth its weight in gold since as I am reading and typing this post he's chugging out a that bit of dungeon at some eye watering pace.

I'm not so sure that John is all that fast. Have you noticed that Max and Jaxillon and a few other real good mappers aren't around anymore? I think John has a dozen missing mappers locked up in a dungeon somewhere making maps for him.... Hey, that would make a good theme for a dungeon map!

It seems that J.Edward's secret is out: he has caged cartographers creating his masterpieces for him

I also believe that automating your processes can speed it up a lot. Get the computer to do the things computers do well. Unfortunately for me that makes my maps a bit sterile.

Could you give some examples of how you automate your workflow? I know about Photoshop Actions; is that what you mean?

Get to know many programs and what their strengths are.

This seems like very good advice to me. I only know Photoshop and hand-drawing (and a bit of SketchUp), but maybe I should try out Illustrator, Paint Tool Sai and the like.

Well, this, no doubt!

I'm a very slow cartographer myself... You're not alone in this case, believe me! Lately, as I'm doing comissions, I'm learning how to speed up my mapping work because it's a necessity. You have to identify what you can do fast and what needs to be done faster. If it's not possible to do it faster, well, it might be worth to try a different method, faster yet satisfying.

Your maps may take a long time to chug out, but they are exquisite and beautiful every single time!

Unfortunately for me, all of the commissions I have done have been very relaxed about schedules, so I haven't really been pushed to meet any deadlines.

If you have the time for it, build yourself a repository of recurring elements.

I pretty much agree with Wired on this. I have a folder called Map Elements with the basics. In that folder I've got a swatch set with my signature colors that I always use. Also things like rhumblines, city icons, patterns, my logo, my signature etc.

I've considered going down this route in the past, it does make a lot of sense. One of the problems, though, is that I am very much a city-mapper, and this approach to making maps isn't as suitable to city maps, in my experience. I can definitely put a bit more thought into how I could streamline my processes by using repeat elements like borders and swatch, though.

Thanks again for the comments, guys. There's some really useful information in there, and I'll try to apply some of it to my future projects. I think I'm quite a slow and methodical map-maker with a bit too much attention to detail, but if I can trim some of the time I spend on each work it'll be worth it.

If anyone else has thoughts or ideas, I'm still keen to hear them. Is there anyone who was once a slow mapper and has actively made themselves faster?

Wingshaw