Free fantasy mapmaking software

[Benita]

I've been drawing my world maps by hand for my fantasy novels, but lately I'm thinking it might be better to find some sort of software to make a more polished product. I've done a Google search and I can't find anything. I've heard you can do it in Photoshop but I'm not sure how that would work (I have the alternative Paint.net which I assume would work the same?). I'm on a really tight budget so I'm hoping there's something free out there.

Any suggestions?

Thanks a lot!

[Zoltán]

I don't know about suitable map making software, but if you want more than the basics that Paint has, but are also tight on budget, you could try out gimp. It's free and has all features (builtin or with free plugin) that a non-pro might need. The gui is different from Photoshop and those used to the latter may have some learning curve to adapt to it. But if you 'start from scratch', it's not better or worse than Photoshop.

Just my 2c.

[Zoltán]

Did you check this one: https://secure.profantasy.com/default...

[Helge]

Zoltán wrote: "Did you check this one: https://secure.profantasy.com/default..."

Wow, that looks awesome! :)

[Benita]

Zoltán wrote: "I don't know about suitable map making software, but if you want more than the basics that Paint has, but are also tight on budget, you could try out gimp. It's free and has all features (builtin o..."

Okay, I'll check out Gimp, and also, the software you linked to looks fantastic! Thanks!

[C.B., Beach Body Moderator]

A lot can be done with a hand drawn map, gimp, free paper textures, and multiply layers!

It really can turn a hand drawn map into a beautiful thing in a few minutes!

[Ai]

@Benita

I'd recommend against using profantasy products. I have Campaign Cartographer 3 and it crashes every time. Judging from the thousands of complains, it seems like I'm not the only one who suffered it. Unless you have like, the top of the line computer, stay away, stay as far as you can from CC3. CC2 is okay though, pretty stable, it just doesn't have all the bells and whistles of CC3. CC2 maps also look rather unappetizing. God only knows how many mental table-flipping I've done while using CC3.

If you already know how your map is going to be and just looking to make it look professional, just use photoshop. Have a look at my Amazon sample, Felicia's Second Life Volume 1. The map is on the 3rd page. I spent 10 hours on photoshop to make that, and I'm actually an amateur. This is only my third map with photoshop so I can assure you, it's not that hard. The only hard thing is whether your map makes sense.

If you have photoshop and wants to know how to make something like I've done, send me a pm.

[Benita]

Ai wrote: "@Benita

I'd recommend against using profantasy products. I have Campaign Cartographer 3 and it crashes every time. Judging from the thousands of complains, it seems like I'm not the only one who s..."

Thanks for the warning about CC, sounds like I'll be staying far away from that one. :)

And thank you as well for offering to explain how to make a Photoshop map, it's very kind! Yesterday, though, I found an online software which, while it's in its beta stages, seems to be quite good.
http://inkarnate.com/

[Pam]

I see it is for role playing games. I think you would need to check what the arrangements are for using in a book as they may not licence it for that purpose.

[Benita]

Pam wrote: "I see it is for role playing games. I think you would need to check what the arrangements are for using in a book as they may not licence it for that purpose."

Good call... I will have to try and contact them about the license.

[Justin]

Making a note to check this out.

[A.J.]

There is also excellent youtube videos on the subject:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0iLr...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qUFy...

And although this is shown in photoshop, GIMP should be able to everything that they show, you'll just have to figure it how what tools are the photoshop equivalents in GIMP, but that can be done with their tutorial and how-to pages.