# Mapping



## spectre (Dec 17, 2014)

I am a terrible graphic artist when it comes to making my maps freehand. The paper maps I've drawn out before always get crumpled or lost. Does software exist, free or paid, that makes the job of creating geographic maps that are nice to look at easier than drawing one up in paint or gimp?


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## thecoldembrace (Dec 17, 2014)

I use Campaign Cartographer 3 for overland maps along with City Designer added on to do my cities, towns and villages. Its a one time payment that I consider very worth it for the quality of maps that I can produce with my limited skills.

https://secure.profantasy.com/default.asp

-Cold


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## pixallmighty (Dec 18, 2014)

If you really want to to know more about creating maps, I highly recommend the Cartographer's Guild, a forum where you can ask anything about mapping and find usefull resources to help you. It helped me a lot, from finding the style of my map to creating it, with free software like Gimp.

Cartographers' Guild


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## cjweyrauch (Mar 6, 2015)

hey this is some cool software thanks!


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## K.S. Crooks (Mar 8, 2015)

The main page of the website I used to make maps for my novel is donjon; RPG Tools. This site provides ideas for plots, characters, goals and several other things you may want in your story. The map maker is at donjon; Fractal World Generator. It is a wonderful tool and the map you create can be saved to your computer and opened in Photoshop to modify it as you like. Hope this help.


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## Blodwedd (Mar 9, 2015)

You can always find a friend that has some skills in art.


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## Reilith (Mar 14, 2015)

I found this great guide about creating your own map. CREATING A MAP FOR YOUR FANTASY NOVEL | jademphillips 

I am currently in the process of creating mine and this is immensely helpful.


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## Joy (Mar 15, 2015)

That's lovely, thanks. However, my top-favourite place that has already been mentioned is the Cartographer's Guild. Man, they have tutorials for different types of software, different recourses and must-know topics that educated me the least and made my world a bit more realistic and reasonable. Lurked there a couple of years. These guys are also inspiring and heated me up more than a dragon's breath.
God bless the Guild


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## Reilith (Mar 15, 2015)

And here I am again! Since I am immersed in making my own map, I was researching quite a bit. And I found these amazing brushes on dA, which are completely free for any sort of use! Commercial or not, it's allowed. And they are great and work wonderful on fantasy maps. I am going to use them quite soon I believe.

Tolkien-style Map Brushes by calthyechild on DeviantArt

I Want More Mountains brushes by calthyechild on DeviantArt


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## PS Extraordinary Tales (Mar 15, 2015)

thecoldembrace said:


> I use Campaign Cartographer 3 for overland maps along with City Designer added on to do my cities, towns and villages. Its a one time payment that I consider very worth it for the quality of maps that I can produce with my limited skills.
> 
> https://secure.profantasy.com/default.asp
> 
> -Cold



Thanks, that looks very useful!


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## ArenRax (Mar 17, 2015)

Blodwedd said:


> You can always find a friend that has some skills in art.


lol true. I think I am quite good at drawing maps although I need to take the time to add landmarks


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## ascanius (Mar 17, 2015)

Cartographers guild is the best place to start, it's where I work on my map and get feedback.  Not to mention there are some excellent resources about map making and software of all kinds.


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## Cassp (Mar 26, 2015)

I checked them out, good stuff.


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## Reaver (Apr 17, 2015)

I recommend AutoRealm. It's free, easy to use and fun!


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## evolution_rex (Jun 22, 2015)

I find mapping incredibly fun and I think I'm relatively good at it, but my issue is similar to this. Other than hand drawing, which I think I've got 100% down, I use MS Paint which I'm relatively handy with when it comes to maps but it ends up looking cartoony and, of course, looks like it was made on MS Paint (however, I do my best to make it detailed and stylized). I don't want to pay for any software so I don't currently own Photoshop, but I'm not sure that would be any better. I also don't quite like donjon's stuff either. Anyone know any other options?


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## TheCatholicCrow (Jun 26, 2015)

evolution_rex said:


> I don't want to pay for any software so I don't currently own Photoshop



I've seen lots of links on pinterest so if you have an account that might be a nice place to browse & link hop.  

Beyond the obvious costs, I don't like slowing my computer down w too many extra games & programs so I like to use web apps when possible. Of course there's GIMP but you could also try Sumopaint (I always have problems w it crashing midproject though) there's also ipiccy and Canva (which come w decent script options - canva is also great for making blog & promo materials) and finally, my personal go-to Pixlr (editor). The text on Pixlr caps off at a 130 font size so if you like to work on a larger canvas & later compress it (as many do) it's no bueno. This is just about my only complaint with the program/site ... and that you can't get as clean of a pixel selection as you can w Photoshop. There are several other options that are missing but most people probably wouldn't notice.


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## WeilderOfTheMonkeyBlade (Jul 9, 2015)

Sign up for the InKarnate beta. 

Sign up. 

Now! 

It's free, still in the beta stage, but it is super easy to use, looks great, pretty accurate. . . its the whole thing, for free. You'll love it. (I've also tried AutoRealm, and InKarnate blows it out of the water, and then hits it with a baseball bat!)


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## evolution_rex (Jul 9, 2015)

Alright, you've sold me with InKarnate. This is pretty much what I've been looking for. Thanks for suggesting it!


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## skip.knox (Jul 10, 2015)

I have a specialized mapping need, which InKarnate seemed not to meet. Once I come to actually needing it, I'll probably talk to the Cartographers Guild, but I thought I'd try here first.

Since my stories take place in an alternate Earth, the geography is (mostly) real world. But I tend to use ancient or medieval place names, and some places are orc or troll territory, so those place names differ as well. In short, I need maps of Europe that I can muck around with. And not just Europe as a whole, but smaller places. For example, I need Dacia and Thrace, which today are part of Bulgaria and Turkey, respectively. 

What I'd like is something akin to InKarnate, but where I can load in my own map, then make changes to it. I'm sort of resigned to having to hire an artist to do this, but if there *is* such a program, I'd love to hear about it.


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## WeilderOfTheMonkeyBlade (Jul 10, 2015)

Haha that sort of program would be amazing, but I doubt you'd be able to get anything like that for free (we can but hope). InKarnate isn't perfect - There's a lack of textures and I'd like some actual forest symbols, but I'm holding out hope for the Alpha version - but for free it is pretty useful. The main winner for me is it allows me to name all of my cities - I'm a believer in putting a load on, which isn't something I can do easily with pencil and paper, as my handwriting is messy as hell!!

EDIT -  I've actually just logged back on to InKarnate - haven't been on for a few weeks - busted computer and exams and that crap, and I've seen they have patched forests and the like in. WOOO


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## ChasingSuns (Jul 13, 2015)

I also vote for CC3. So good!


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## A.J. (Sep 4, 2016)

This is really useful. Thanks.


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