Another thread about how to get started

[Corro]

Hey, so, I've been into mapping for quite along time, drawing maps during school and all of that but I've never been satisfied with them so I decided to draw them on a computer but my lack of knowledge prevents me from doing so. I somehow found this website and was amazed to see all this maps so well drawn, I then looked for tutorials but they're mostly (if not all) outdated and I can't use them, so I'd like your help to explain me how to draw a nice looking map (coast lines, mountains, forests...).
Thank you so much for responding.

[ChickPea]

Hi Corro and welcome.

I think you'll need to give some more info on what you hope to achieve, as your question's just a teeny bit vague. What style of map are you hoping to create (can you show some examples?) and what software are you using?

It's true that many of the tutorials are older, but often they're still useful and most require only small tweaks to make them work. Did you get stuck trying a particular tutorial and abandoned it? It's worthwhile to persevere with two or three tutorials, even if you're not super keen on the final result. You'll pick up a lot of basic skills (like making coastlines) and you can develop these further on your own. Alternatively, have a browse through the forums and, if you see something you like, just ask the creator how they did it. Most folks are happy to discuss techniques.

Finally, to name but one thread, Max has a workshop thread here. If you have a click through that, he shares lots of tips on how he creates his (gorgeous!) maps. Maybe that will be useful to you.

[Corro]

Hey! thank you for responding, sorry for being vague but I use gimp and I'd like to make a world map with zooming in every region, create them a history!
that's where I am with coastlines but I have no idea of how to make rivers, seas, textures... but I'm fine with the coastline
map.png

Actually I don't have any style but I'm not into oldlooking map (sorry I'm not clear) but those are maps I like
https://www.cartographersguild.com/s...060#post364060
https://www.cartographersguild.com/s...756#post363756

And I'll go check the tutos you gave, but not right now I can't. thank you so much

[Anna Robinson]

Im bumping this thread, as I have the same questions!

[Kellerica]

I'll point you guys to the tutorials that taught me pretty much everything I know about digital mapmaking. First off, this wonderful series by Jezelf, https://www.cartographersguild.com/s...ead.php?t=2557, especially parts 1-4. Although almost 10 years old at this point (lord have mercy...) it's still a very good basic tutorial, and perfectly usable even today. There are things that these things do that can, in my opinion, be done more efficiently and easily, but there are still many valuable ideas for that are worth considering.

Another one I can't recommend enough is of course the near-classic Saderan tutorial by Tear. Even if you don't particularly fancy the style of this map, I highly recommend you to give it a try at least once. It will do a bang-up job of getting you familiar with a lot of tools and tricks that are extremely useful for map-making.

Other than these, like CP said, feel free to ask the Guild folk questions if you're wondering how the did a certain thing. That is really the best part about this community; everyone is really friendly and easy to approach. Same goes for me, obviously. If you're interested in the techniques I'm using, you need but to ask and I'll try to answer the best I can.

Edit: Oh, I'll have to apologize for not reading the previous posts thoroughly... just now realized you were a Gimp user. Sorry, my bad! Though I have heard that some of these things are transferable to Gimp as well...? Never used it myself, so I couldn't say.

[bkh1914]

My favorite introductory tutorial for GIMP is the classic Using GIMP to Create an Artistic Regional RPG Map by RobA.
He starts with the basics of using GIMP. Some of the GIMP commands may have different names/locations in the latest version of GIMP, but the functions are still there... As Kelleri said, just ask.
The tutorial thread also contains four PDF files, one at the end of each section (series of posts). I found the PDFs to be easier to read and follow.