Advice for a beginner

[HughVoodoo]

Hey guys and gals. I located this forum several days ago, and have spent the days since perusing all the great work that is posted here, and looking at some tutorials. So it's great to meet everyone! I'm an aspiring fantasy author, and I love the idea of creating my own maps for my world. Being able to see the maps really gives me a good idea of where characters are and where they need to be going. Up to this point, I've mostly just been able to make rough sketches of large continental maps, but have wanted to get more detailed with creating city maps.

The problem I am running into is I can't really get detail that I like beyond just the sketch of the area. I have a Lenovo Miix tablet (basically a surface pro) with a pen, and am using the Autodesk Sketch app to draw the area. I am able to draw the outline of the landmasses, but when I get ready to draw buildings, vegetation, etc. I just can't get the details I want. Take a look at the attachment. You can see some of the buildings I've started on one of the islands on the right. They are really pixelated and just generally pretty rough looking. I don't know how to get any more detailed than that using GIMP or Photoshop, etc. I drew those building using the same sketch app I mentioned before.

After some research, I found that I would need to use GIMP or photoshop to get the detail I need for that kind of stuff, and I have downloaded those programs, but for the life of me I can't wrap my head around them. It's all so overwhelming with all the things those programs can do. I tried to search for tutorials, but there is so much on here that it's a bit overwhelming. If I'm being honest, I don't even know where to start with trying to find the answers I'm looking for. So I figured I would go to this city mapping forum for the best answers. For reference of what I'm looking for, here's a couple of finished city maps that I really like, and have the detail that I'm looking for. Credit to those who did this work:

https://www.cartographersguild.com/s...ighlight=Rivia

https://www.cartographersguild.com/s...ad.php?t=37163

I specifically like the detail on the second link, as it is laid out more like a "map" like you'd see on google maps and the like.

So, if there are some tutorial threads that you know of that tie into what I'm looking for, I'd love to take a look at those! Thank you all so much for your help. I'm excited to hang out with you all.

[Azélor]

Welcome to the Guild!

I think you map is already looking good and I don't see the pixels when I zoom in. I'm using Firefox, so the zoom is limited.
Maybe when you are working on the file you are zoomed at 3000% or near the maximum? If that is the case, it will look pixelated. Unless your using something that adds anti-aliasing. Most browser do that, so even if I could zoom, it would not look pixelated.

The solutions would be:

1- Apply you own anti aliasing by deliberately blurring the lines.
2- Zoom out and use larger/softer lines. that should not look pixelated unless you zoom too much.
3- Work on a larger map and make everything bigger. Making sure that the smallest element doesn't look pixelated before going too far.
4- use a vector program like Inkscape or Illustrator. They never show you the pixels (there is an option to make them do it) when you are in the software. But when you export the map into a png, jpeg or else, they will look pixelated if the image is not large enough.


If you takes the maps you linked and open them with Windows image viewer or any photo-manipulation software, you will also see the pixels.

[Josiah VE]

I like what you've got so far, especially the layout. The buildings you've drawn so far look nice!
Azelors tips are good. I'm also wondering what size of image you are working with.

[HughVoodoo]

Welcome to the Guild!

I think you map is already looking good and I don't see the pixels when I zoom in. I'm using Firefox, so the zoom is limited.
Maybe when you are working on the file you are zoomed at 3000% or near the maximum? If that is the case, it will look pixelated. Unless your using something that adds anti-aliasing. Most browser do that, so even if I could zoom, it would not look pixelated.

The solutions would be:

1- Apply you own anti aliasing by deliberately blurring the lines.
2- Zoom out and use larger/softer lines. that should not look pixelated unless you zoom too much.
3- Work on a larger map and make everything bigger. Making sure that the smallest element doesn't look pixelated before going too far.
4- use a vector program like Inkscape or Illustrator. They never show you the pixels (there is an option to make them do it) when you are in the software. But when you export the map into a png, jpeg or else, they will look pixelated if the image is not large enough.


If you takes the maps you linked and open them with Windows image viewer or any photo-manipulation software, you will also see the pixels.

Azelor, thank you so much for your tips! I downloaded Inkscape after reading your post and played around with it a bit. I'm blown away by the results I'm getting! Thanks again!

[HughVoodoo]

I like what you've got so far, especially the layout. The buildings you've drawn so far look nice!
Azelors tips are good. I'm also wondering what size of image you are working with.

Hey Josiah,

Thanks for the feedback. I'm really new to map making, and these programs. Where would I find the image size?

[HughVoodoo]

Hi all, I wanted to give a quick update on my map. I've made a good bit of progress with the buildings, but things are coming along slowly. Let me know what you think! And thanks for all the help!

[ChickPea]

This is looking fantastic! I like the layout you've got. Great to see an Inkscape map, too.