List of Mapping Software

[Bowchikawowers]

I'm currently running photoshop and I love it, but my computer does not. It's a bit processor heavy for the poor thing. Does anyone know if Gimp is a little easier on the computer to run? Thank you!

[Jalyha]

I don't know how it is compared to photoshop, but GIMP gives my 7 year old laptop a stroke about once every 3 days or so...

then again if I didn't have like 5 of the 4000 x 4000 images open, maybe it won't....

[Brian McBride]

Hello, I'm Brian and I'm new here. I'm an author and find it very convenient to create maps for the fantasy worlds I create. I'm fairly fluent in GIMP and do not use photoshop simply because I cannot afford it. What I'm looking for are some tutorials for rendering maps in GIMP. Could anyone direct me? Thanks.

[Gamerprinter]

Probably a good place to start is RobA's tutorial on creating an artistic map in GIMP - its probably the most read tutorial thread on the board. Note the search box at the top right of this site - just enter "GIMP tutorials" and you'll find a bunch.

I noticed your thread on ENWorld boards, and was going to point you here, but seen someone already did in that thread. Good luck in your search for a cartographer, but I'd recommend, if you are somewhat familiar with GIMP to follow the tutorials, make your own map and save you some money! I do commissions too, but you can't afford me, and I'm too busy anyway. Good luck in your endeavors.

[DavidCapetian]

I've seen XYZ on a google search. As I stated in a post the other day I am looking for software and will look into this one. David

[lobex3]

Is there a consensus of the best (combination of ease of use and best features?) mapping software? I am especially focused on interiors of fantasy settings such as dungeons and buildings, but would also like to be able to create nice overall maps.

[Mark Oliva]

Is there a consensus of the best (combination of ease of use and best features?) mapping software? .

There are lots of opinions but nothing like a consensus. Each of us has his or her own favorite tools, and they make up a long list of alternatives.

[DarkMushroomGames]

truly amazing resource guys!!!

where has this been all my gaming life?!

thanks for posting !

[WorldspinnerDG]

One more to add to the list... currently under development, with a Kickstarter campaign, but hopefully still of interest:

Title: Worldspinner
Vendor: Worldspinner LLC
Web Site: Worldspinner.com
or the Kickstarter site: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...r-and-map-make
Type: interative and rendered maps
Focus: Fantasy RPGs
Platform: Web based
Price: free to try; pay for printed maps
Description:
Worldspinner makes it easy to create richly detailed maps of your own fantasy world in minutes. The tool creates an entire world (geology, climate, ecology) then populates it with people (cultures, nations, and cities) and if you like even adds adventure content (plots and points of interest on the map to explore). The focus is to make worldbuilding easy, by enabling the user to make broad choices that control the type of world being made, and to allow cities and points of interest to be easily added or altered, rather than to allow/require the user to provide every detail of the world by hand.

[johnvanvliet]

old thread and one that is in need of updating , maybe start a new one ?

but in the meantime ....

it really comes down to WHAT one is doing and what TYPE of "map" one is making

with that in mind , I start with a 32 bit floating point image or a 16bit Unsigned image
i find that when working on a 16 bit image that unsigned ( 0-65538 ) works better in most software than using a signed image ( -32768 to 32767 )
and move that data into 32 bit float .

this reduces the software that can be used

Also most of the work on said maps tends to be in "Simple cylindrical" for a full planet
Mercator for the areas around 45 to 85 north/south
Polarstereographic for the two poles

so for my needs the "best software" is different than someone making a dungeon

ISIS3 ( yes it is mainly for THIS solar system and NOT the Earth )
USGS Isis: Planetary Image Processing Software

GDAL
GDAL: GDAL - Geospatial Data Abstraction Library

this has many variants like FW-tools that include Proj4
FWTools: Open Source GIS/RS Binary Kit

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For viewing and over all image editing there is Nip2/Vips
VipsWiki

it is like a cross of lotas123 and gimp
the GUI " nip2" to the VIPS imaging library works a bit like a spread sheet
BUT
it handles 8 bit ( signed and unsigned)
16 bit ( signed and unsigned)
32 bit long and double
32 bit float
image data

there is also for working on 32bit images
16 bit can be done with imagemagick Q16
BUT
This has REPLACED IM as a tool i use

"G'Mic"
G'MIC - GREYC's Magic for Image Computing: An Open and Full-Featured Framework for Image Processing

as above it also handles images these forms
bool | uchar | char | ushort | short | uint | int | ulong | long | float | double
( but you need to hack the current source code to RE ENABLE some of the little used formats )

you can also use gmic's math functions to run a polar transform on a map to work on the north/south poles


there is also Gimp 2.8 is still 8 bit
sometime soon ??? Gimp3 will be out and that will handle 16 bit and i think 32 bit images