Hello all --- looking for tips

[squeen]

I've been lurking for a bit, but wanted to post some maps and gets some feedback. I'm a old-time D&D player (1978+) and more recently a DM (2012+). Here's a new map for the long-running campaign I run at home for my kids:

gudCompound2-grid.jpg

I used ink-pen + pencil for shading and then photographed it with my phone. Afterwards I did a bit of contrast cleaning in GIMP.
Once I've finished keying it, I will probably have another go at cleaning up some of the pencil artifacts (and then re-scan, etc.)

Not a terribly efficient pipeline -- I'd loved to hear how others do it.

I also struggle with brightness in print (B&W) vs. what displays nicely on the screen (i.e. blacker blacks).
Is there a rule-of-thumb for that?

Thanks in advance.

[wminish]

Welcome to the guild. I really like the map, it's looking great so far.

I hand draw my maps as well and use a similar process to what it sounds like you're doing although you're process sounds a bit simpler than mine. After creating a piece with whatever materials I'm using (ink, colouring pencils, watercolours), I scan in and then use the built in windows photo viewer app to crop, darken and increase the colour saturation, I find that the scanner tends to wash out the blacks and colors. I then move to gimp and run a noise reduction filter. Finally I usually go over to paint.net to create a low res version for upload, if I want a transparent background I also do this here.

I'm terms of adjusting colours and darkness for display on a screen all you can really do is make it look nice on your monitor, there are guides online to adjust your monitor for more accurate colour display. I wouldn't sweat it too much really, unless you are willing to drop thousands of dollars for a colour accurate reference monitor there is only so much you can do.

[squeen]

Welcome to the guild. I really like the map, it's looking great so far.
...
I'm terms of adjusting colours and darkness for display on a screen all you can really do is make it look nice on your monitor, there are guides online to adjust your monitor for more accurate colour display. I wouldn't sweat it too much really, unless you are willing to drop thousands of dollars for a colour accurate reference monitor there is only so much you can do.

Thank you!

I was hoping there was some sort of standard gamma setting for going from screen-to-print, but I guess you just have to do trail and error. Good to know.

[waldronate]

If you haven't calibrated your monitor manually, do so (search for "calibrate monitor" in your favorite search engine). Ideally, you should then use your input device to capture the calibrated screen and then determine a transform from the capture device to the onscreen display, but it's a bit fiddly. As wnimish suggested, a pre-calibrated reference system is an option, but pricey. A much cheaper monitor calibration tool can be used, but it won't reference your capture device.
A critical consideration for calibration is ambient lighting. Your eye's perception of the environment varies radically based on ambient light color and brightness, so minimizing variance of the lighting is a good way to get consistent (even if not correct) results.

[DrWho42]

hello hello! welcome to the guild!