[Award Winner] Hand-Drawn Mapping (for the Artistically Challenged)

[rentauri]

I to used this tut to create a map and I felt it was easy to follow and use. I did have a couple of problems here and there but overall I came to really like it.

[Troedel]

This is a tutorial everybody new to mapping should read. Great work.

[Gidde]

Thank you for the feedback!


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[Helleaven]

Hi Gidde! After many hours I've completed the map according to your tutorial. It turns out to be far more better than I expected. A great tutorial, thanks!

But I have 2 problems, which probably originate from my unperfect english. Here are my problems.

First, about the labels. I couldn't understand how I can erase the area under the labels, can you give me more spesific details. Because I didn't understand the instruction, I drew white semi opac lines with a wide fuzzy paintbrush, but it looks very bad now :/ .

Second, the same thing happened when I was trying to finalize the rivers too.

"Switch to the channels dialog and grab the Border layer as a selection. Switch back to the layers dialog and select
the mask for the River Color layer. Fill the selection with black. Now switch back to the channels dialog and pick up the Rivers channel as a selection. Switch back to the layers dialog, select the River color layer."

I couldn't understand this part :/ What do you mean by "grab the Border layer as a selection" ? I don't know if it is too much but can you give me more detailed explanation about this part that I quoted? A step by step instruction like you did at the first steps of the tutorial.


And here is my map, you can see what I was trying to say as soon as you open the file


deneme1-b 2.jpg

[Gidde]

Ok, first the channels part. I've attached a screenshot with some pictorial instructions on grabbing a channel as a selection, hopefully that will clear that part up.

For erasing the stuff under the labels, you need to put a layer mask on the layer that has your mountains, forests, etc. (it should all be merged at this point, I believe). Layer -> Mask -> Add Layer Mask ... then select Full Opacity.

Then make sure you have that *mask* selected (click on the mask thumbnail which is to the right of your layer and should be totally white) and paint in *black* on the mask. This will make the stuff you're painting over "disappear" without actually deleting the data it represents (in case you change your mind).


Layer masks are integral for mapping; jfrazierjr has an excellent tutorial on using them here. You might want to take a detour and go through that before you continue.

Hope this helps!

[Helleaven]

That's wonderful thank you, it will help me a lot. You're an excellent instructor

[Tazgrent]

I just wanted to give my thanks for this tutorial. The style of maps it creates is absolutely incredible, and matches what I had in my mind's eye almost perfectly.

[Gidde]

You're welcome, and thanks for the kind words!

[Seleucus I]

Hey Giddes,

First off, thanks for the tutorial; I'm planning on making several maps in this vein and its nice to have some steps to follow. Also, while reading through, I realized that I think I can fix a problem you were having. On page 21 of the pdf when talking about stroking selections, you mention that:
"For some reason, every time I did this, my stroke came out orange. No idea why."
The reason why is revealed in the screenshot that accompanies the pdf on page 21. There, you have the "Pattern" circle selected. While you probably thought this indicated that you wanted to stroke the selection with your own, user defined pattern, what this instead indicates to GIMP is that you want to stroke the path with a patterned texture instead of a solid color. And the default pattern selected is an orangeish wood grain. I have made this mistake several times in the past as well, and while it is frustrating, is easily fixable.
All the best,
-Seleucus

[Gidde]

You're welcome, and thanks!


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