Creating a fantasy map (the tools and the process that worked or you may recommend)

The answer to your question is ... well, first we have to refine your question:

1) if you're preparing a map you intend to use only as reference for your own writing: I use a blank piece of paper and a fine point pencil. I start with a rough sketch and then fill in details as I need them, moving things around to ensure they make sense geographically as well as story wise. If you're not a student of geography, I recommend finding a few good books on it and studying maps in detail because it's really easy to get things wrong on a map if you're not careful. Also, I recommend the Perry-Castenada Map Library at the University of Texas's web site for a great reference resource. They have maps of all shapes and sizes and ages and links to even more map libraries. Not only is it a great resource for studying maps, it's also a great resource for names of towns, countries, rivers, etc.

2) If you're preparing a map for use in a book:

a) Unless you're self-publishing, your reference map will be sufficient. Unless you're a graphic artist or a cartographer, the publisher will most-likely hire an artist to produce a professional-looking map to be inserted in the book.

b) If you are self-publishing, I still recommend using your reference map as a starting point, but get good inking pens to go over the penciled lines. Once you have everything exactly as you want it, depending on your comfort and computer skills, you could import it into a graphics program to add fine details and the lettering. If you're not comfortable with a graphics program, you may want to hire someone to clean up your map for you. Then again, if you have very clean handwriting, some people love the "homemade" feel of a hand-lettered map - they say it makes it seem like the character drew the map.

I don't recommend using Paint or any basic computer program where you're trying to draw with your mouse unless you're very confident with your skills. I prefer the look of a clean inked map over pixelated maps.

Remember, we're not all J.R.R. Tolkien and making maps is a skill that comes with much weeping and gnashing of teeth . . . I mean, practice.

Of course, file all of this under O for opinion. Others here may have much better suggestions.

I grabbed a piece of A3 paper, a pencil and just drew! I am no artist but I managed to put in some triangles for mountains, trees for forests and different sized dots for towns and cities . As I wrote I added in different places and features. A few times I realised certain places needed to be further apart or closer. Finally, when I finished MS1 I redrew it and photocopied to send out to people who kindly read the novel for me.

Of course this isn't any good for something professional looking, although the previous poster seems to have some good ideas with regards to that. Definitely curious to read further replies on this thread.

halion said:

Hello,

As per the subject title, I'm a bit curious how some authors created a fantasy map with their story; whether they made it on a computer using paint, or simply by using a pencil, a broadsheet of paper and a trusty rubber and ruler.

If there are any programs (and youtube tutorials to use them) that you could recommend that would be helpful. Anything in general would be helpful really at this stage, pointers that you would recommend to someone new to it all.

Regards

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rachel0d provided a tool for a free, online map generator. It is in post #1 of this thread: https://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?337067-Writing-Tools-for-Authors-(Online)

The website is: https://www.redblobgames.com/maps/mapgen2/

Although these are "island" maps, you can do what Tolkien did with his Middle Earth map.... The island is the map. The water (everything outside it) he called the "void."

She also provided a Medieval city generator in the same post: https://watabou.itch.io/medieval-fantasy-city-generator

I've used Inkarnate for my maps. It's simple, quick enough to figure out, and gave me what I needed. It's nothing fancy, but for my own personal use, it works.

Carrie in PA said:

I've used Inkarnate for my maps. It's simple, quick enough to figure out, and gave me what I needed. It's nothing fancy, but for my own personal use, it works.

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I also use Inkarnate for map making. I tend to have a hard time visualizing where all the cities and major landmarks and stuff are when I'm writing, and I found that putting together a quick map really helps with that. I used to just sketch out a map on a piece of paper, but I'm a terrible artist and I have a lot more fun building a world when I'm using a map maker like Inkarnate.

Carrie in PA said:

I've used Inkarnate for my maps. It's simple, quick enough to figure out, and gave me what I needed. It's nothing fancy, but for my own personal use, it works.

Click to expand...

Any chance you could add Inkarnate link to rachel0d's thread I posted earlier (source of online tools for people). It is updated periodically and it can be a great help for other AW'ers, I believe. Thanks.

You could also look at map-makers like like Autorealm and Campaign Cartographer 3. Autorealm has some nice measuring tools that let you estimate days of travel under different conditions (foot, horse, terrain, etc.) CC3 is a bit more graphically robust, but may have a steeper learning curve.

pencil & paper

Moving this to SF & F, where it will likely have more responses.

Some previous mapping threads:

https://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?324134

https://absolutewrite.com/forums/sh...g-maps-but-you-really-need-one&highlight=maps

Two fantasy map creation tools:

http://donjon.bin.sh/fantasy/world/

https://inkarnate.com

I'm just going to add that for digital image processing, if you need any degree of looking professional, you'll want to go for a better program than Paint. Graphics pros will go for Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator* but that will be too expensive for casual/occasional use. For Photoshop alternatives, I would point people at Paint.net for general-purpose use on Windows, GIMP for Mac and Linux (though while GIMP will do the job, it's more complicated for novice users and underpowered for pro users compared to Photoshop). For Illustrator alternatives, Inkscape is the one I know but the last time I tried to use Inkscape on Windows many years ago it was not stable.

* - Photoshop is a raster drawing tool, which means it works directly on pixels, akin to Paint. Illustrator is a vector drawing tool, which calculates lines and shapes based on connecting points; vector tools are very well suited to clean line art and will scale larger/smaller without distortion.

I use Photoshop, although sometimes start with paper/pen. Given that I have versions of my map from about four different tie periods, it's convenient because you can use layers and alter them easily without ruining the rest of the map. Especially if you need to alter borders/mountains/rivers, etc.

On an actual map-making element - work out where your important points are, and consult a few world-building websites as they'll help you avoid making errors like putting mountains or forests where they have no right to be. And if you need them there, well, that's when you get to get creative and discover new things about your world...

If you need to map a city, here is an extremely cool tool: the Medieval Fantasy City Generator.

I sketch a map in pencil, then scan it and re-create it in Adobe Illustrator for a B&W version. I can tweak, blowout, and zoom in as necessary for other maps. The vector can be imported into Photoshop if you want to colorize it.