Kaherm (an attempt to revitalize old map)

[Voolf]

Oh, i see why that can be confusing. I will reposition the little outlet, thanks Falconius

[Voolf]

After hours of fails and trials an update.

Kaherm_colour_v2.jpg

Colouring and shading plain ground is such a pain for me. I never know how people do such an amazing job. The recent WIP you see here is probably all i could squeeze out from my abbilities to make the ground fairly ok for my liking. I am so-so pleased.

List of things i am still intended to do:
・ Though i spent couple of days making forests i will probably do some of them again (at least the big north-east deciduous forest, looks broken now). I'll also play with the colours or/and try add additional colour to some of them.
・ Make the sea more appealing by adding some shadows and highliths (maybe a shore waves too)
・ Fix perspective of some structures and colour them.
・ Add labels, frame and compas

I am not gonna tweak mountains and ground anymore, unless some of you give me usefull tips how something could be done better and its still easly fixable .

[Domino44]

wow, this is looking great!

[ThomasR]

Your shading really brought this map to life. The depth you achieved is impressive !

[Voolf]

wow, this is looking great!

Your shading really brought this map to life. The depth you achieved is impressive !

Thank you both

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So this is probably next to last update. I still want to add something to border to make it more interesting, but i need to think what, where and how.

Kaherm_v5.jpg

Things done since last update:

• Corrected some forests (i decided to leave colours as they were)
• Coloured buildings
• Threw some extra shadow and light to land
• Added labels
• Added compass
• Added border

[Ilanthar]

Wow, very nice additions!
The compass is awesome and I love the idea for the title! The fire isle is gorgeous too.
A suggestion : maybe you could diminish a bit the halo around the labels? It seems a bit unecessary large in some places. But it's a minor nitpick anyway (the main thing is that they are legible, and they definitely are).

[Mouse]

The colours, the mountains, the shading... everything is perfect. Beautiful work, Voolf

Can I make just one tiny suggestion to do with the labels?

Where you have a curvy thing, like a chain of mountains, would the names of the mountain ranges look better if they curved to follow the spine of the range?

Actually I lied - two suggestions.

The stroke(?) (I think that's what you call the outline to the text) is very dominant. How about trying a stroke that fades out away from the text, so the text itself is dominant, and not the outline around it? I know this isn't anywhere similar to your map - it being a much larger scale top down map done in CC3, but the labelling principles are the same

text.jpg

EDIT: ninja'd by Ilanthar

[Voolf]

Thank you both for your suggestions. I am always happy to hear from you what can i do better.

Unfortunately about labels.... This piece is done in Krita. As great as this software is (considering its free), the text tool in it is HORRIBLE. Sluggish and lacks of features.
First Mouse, the curvy label is impossible in Krita (to my knowledge), to do it i should have to place every single letter separately, position and rotate them.... not gonna do that :/

The stroke that you and Ilanthar mentioned can be changed but it is tricky part. Not all labels are readable with the same stroke size and opacity. I made it bigger so all can be readable. They are all on the same layer with same halo settings (well two layers). To make all labes be readable and with subtle halo i would have to make separate layers for every text. In PS i could do that, but unfortunately in Krita making many vector text layers makes software render image LONG time, like several seconds every time i change size of the text i have to wait... very irritating.
The stroke that fades out is - i thnk - an Outer Glow in Krita. This is also unfotrunately a little broken it works for some labels but for others it leaves one side darker. I could make the glow "by hand" though.... I will experiment tomorrow.

Anyway as you can see, this is more of a software inability. I want to make this one 100% in Krita, so i have to find some workaroud.

[Mouse]

LOL! You should have seen me trying to find the right CC3 sheet effect to reproduce your non-fading stroke! Its obviously something that CC3 was never intended to 'do'! That was what took so long that Ilanthar got to the text before I could post my comment

As with all software (even CC3, though I love it to bits) there are always limitations, so we all have our litte work-arounds. It is a pity that Krita won't let you bend your text, but reducing the impact of the labels a bit by using a glow will probably work wonders. If its any consolation I can spend a happy hour quietly adjusting the glow effect on my text sheet (layer) one digit at a time until I get it just right

[Voolf]

I admire you patience and perseverance Mouse ! Maybe you are right. To be honest i didn't consider labeling such a time consuming work. I was wrong, every piece of map needs love and consieration

I hope to be full of energy to do labeling tomorrow