In a previous post I wrote about how I created a fantasy map using GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) a free program comparable to Photoshop. My publisher (Synergebooks) accepted the map for use in the first two books of The Warder series. Below is the published map and here’s a link to the original post. The steps for creating the GIMP map are at the bottom of the post after the map image.
First Map
While this map is good, I always lamented that it’s limited to black and white. I converted the map to black and white to see what it would look like in print and inadvertently lost the colors. I forgot to save a color version. Sadly short of recreating the map from scratch, I knew of no way to get the color back. So I resigned myself to live without it.
As I was finishing the third book in the series ( The Dragon’s Den ) I discovered an alternative. Inkarnate is a tool designed as part of a role playing game set. It’s currently in beta, the latest update is from August 2015, and only requires an email sign-up to use. Unlike GIMP, which is designed for many different applications the Inkarnate software is specifically designed to make a fantasy map. While it took me two weeks to make my first map with GIMP, I was able to make a draft map with Inkarnate in several hours. It only took me a few minutes to figure out how to use the various tools, sculpting for the land and islands, shading tools for different vegetation/climate types, and objects for major formations, etc. The sizing and shading/softness helped blend areas together and to my eyes produced a beautiful color map.
Second Map
There were a few sticking points. The canned objects (mountains, trees, buildings, etc.) are very good, but there’s not a lot of variety. There’s also no way to create your own objects. I actually used the terrain brushes and ‘painted’ the elephant in the Duchy of Belar and the camels in the eastern desert. I’m not particularly artistic so that was a bit of a challenge. It also would’ve been nice to save my ‘painted drawings as brushes. Since I couldn’t, I drew each camel from scratch. However, this product is still in beta and hopefully will only get better. If you plan to make your own fantasy map I encourage you to consider this tool.
FWIW, my publisher loved the upgraded color map. It’s in the released version of The Dragon’s Den and will be included in the upcoming second editions of The Poisoned Princess and The Counterfeit Count
As always thanks for reading.
Armen
