Map-Making Q&A

by **DiM** on Tue Jun 26, 2007 6:10 am

the purpose of Map Making Q&A is to have a place where new and old map makers share their knowledge and help eachother achieve a higher level of understanding photoshop fireworks or any other image editing software we use. my hope is to gather as many tutorials as possible and constantly update them in the first post, thus allowing everybody to quickly find what they need. also you can share your brushes patters and textures. just upload them on the web and post the link.
anybody is free to ask and answer if they follow some simple rules:

rules for asking:
1. please state the name and version of your image editing software. this way you'll make sure you receive a proper advice.
2. please don't bump your question. somebody will answer it.

rules for answering:
1. always quote the question so people will know what the tutorial is about.
2. the tutorial must be in one of these forms: video or text with explanatory images
3. make sure your tutorial is easy to follow even by the noobest of noobs. that means no skipping of steps you assume the readers should know.

general rules:
1. no side talk. posts like "wow" or "great" don't belong here. they just clutter the thread. if you really feel you want to congratulate someone for a nice tutorial then pm him.
2. if you post a collection of brushes textures or patterns please say what software they are for.

Video tutorials:

1. terraforming tutorial by mibi
2. epoch terraforming parts 1-5 by mibi

Image and text tutorials:

1. how to make an old paper by DiM
2. Using the Magic Wand Tool by DiM
3. how to make a mountain by WidowMakers
4. how to make realistic trees by DiM
5. Photoshop keyboard shortcuts by DiM

Layered images:

1. layered mountain file by WidowMakers
2. 8 Thoughts by WidowMakers
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/6/15/ ... hts_WM.zip
3. Circus Maximus [Revamp] by WidowMakers
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/6/15/ ... mus_WM.zip
4. Great Lakes by WidowMakers
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/6/15/ ... kes_WM.zip
5. Indochina [Revamp] by WidowMakers
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/6/15/ ... ina_WM.zip
6. King of the Mountains by WidowMakers
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/6/15/ ... OTM_WM.zip
7. Montreal [Revamp] by WidowMakers
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/6/15/ ... eal_WM.zip
8. realistic trees by DiM

External links:

1. Rotating and cropping in GIMP by DiM
2. Simple Animations in GIMP by DiM
3. Advanced Animations in GIMP by DiM

Brushes, Patterns and Textures:

1. patterns for Fireworks 8 by DiM
2. textures for Fireworks 8 by DiM

Various files:
1. GIMP help files by DiM

by **mibi** on Tue Jun 26, 2007 6:32 am

nice thread.

by **gimil** on Tue Jun 26, 2007 6:33 am

mibi wrote:nice thread.

general rules:
1. no side talk. posts like "wow" or "great" don't belong here. they just clutter the thread. if you really feel you want to congratulate someone for a nice tutorial then pm him.
2. if you post a collection of brushes textures or patterns please say what software they are for.

LOL

by **DiM** on Tue Jun 26, 2007 6:39 am

come on guys. let's keep this on topic.

will a mod please remove the above 2 posts? :wink:

on topic:

software used: fireworks 8, photoshop cs2
question: i want to know how mibi did the shattered brick walls in d-day map.

by **Risktaker17** on Tue Jun 26, 2007 6:41 am

I have a map-making question. Is it possible to make a map without downloading anything to your computer, I'm not allowed to download anything to the computer. I have never made a map before, but I was thinking about making one.

by **gimil** on Tue Jun 26, 2007 6:45 am

No you will need some kind of software like photoshop or gimp. microsoft paint is a no no. Unless you have these already then you need to download them.

by **edocsil** on Tue Jun 26, 2007 8:42 am

i am having a problem with my antarctica map im using inkscape but i might be able to use gimp (learning how to). the problem is impasible borders rivers aren't a problem in inkscape its mountains that r tough because u have to import a pic into inkscape and then edit it , so it has a box around ur image i can color that box but it takes a while.

how can i put in impassible borders preferable mountains?

by **DiM** on Tue Jun 26, 2007 9:03 am

edocsil wrote:i am having a problem with my antarctica map im using inkscape but i might be able to use gimp (learning how to). the problem is impasible borders rivers aren't a problem in inkscape its mountains that r tough because u have to import a pic into inkscape and then edit it , so it has a box around ur image i can color that box but it takes a while.

how can i put in impassible borders preferable mountains?

i'm not sure i fully understand your problem but my guess is you have a picture of a mountain and you want to use just the mountain and not the background. here's a tutorial on the magic wand tool. the tutorial is for gimp. i'm not sure if you have the magic wand in inkscape.

Using the Magic Wand

you have this image:

you want to use the ring but not the hand.
zoom into the ring as much as you need but make it so you can see the entire ring and a little bit around it. now select the magic wand tool that looks like this:

set the tolerance at a low value. let's say 2 or 4. using the magic wand, click on the ring. a small part will highlight.

you can select larger areas by clicking and holding down the mouse button and moving your mouse down. this selects a larger area, but sometimes it will select unnecessary parts of the picture. you can press undo(or Ctrl+Z) to undo anything you accidentally selected. you can also hold Ctrl and press unwanted areas to deselect them. once you have a little bit selected, hold the Shift key and do the same thing. Your area will generally increase, but make sure you don't select unwanted areas. keep the Shift key held down and click, click the mouse down and unclick. then select another part on the ring. keep repeating the process until the entire ring is selected. like this:

when you're done, copy the selections you just made by pressing Ctrl+C or going to Edit and Copy Image. now you're going to want to make a new layer. make sure it's on transparent mode. now click the layer you have just made. then go to your image and press Ctrl+V or Edit > Paste. this will paste the ring on the new layer.

your newly created layer will contain nothing but the ring.
do so to any image you need.

by **edocsil** on Tue Jun 26, 2007 9:07 am

thanks thats what i needed

by **edocsil** on Tue Jun 26, 2007 10:27 am

.... ok got all that done but now i cant figure out how to change the size of my mountain in gimp
idealy if u could tell me how to download the help files for gimp i wouldnt need to bother u

found the help files online

by **DiM** on Tue Jun 26, 2007 10:40 am

edocsil wrote:.... ok got all that done but now i cant figure out how to change the size of my mountain in gimp
idealy if u could tell me how to download the help files for gimp i wouldnt need to bother u

to scale something in gimp right click that something and go to image then scale image. after that set the dimensions you want and click ok.

help files are here:
ftp://ftp.gimp.org/pub/gimp/help/

by **Evil Pope** on Tue Jun 26, 2007 8:17 pm

Ok.. So how would one go about making buildings, such as in the troy map.. I can make buildings, but they seldom(never) look quite as good as those.. And its somewhat hard to make out quite what he's doing in the movie.. Also, the movie's little help to me anyway because I use GIMP.. The only way I could make use of it is to find the GIMP eqivalent to the Photoshop tools.. Which can't be done because its hard to make out... But anyway, I'd like any sort of help in forming buildings like those, or any other varieties of buildings.. Maybe even castle-like structures..

And i'd like to know how the trees are done, its difficult to see what he's using, and is there a way to do that in GIMP?

Thats all right now, thanks.

by **gimil** on Wed Jun 27, 2007 3:42 am

for the trees i would sue a small rounded brush ( i used a 5pz and a 3px) place a few dots around of green around then drop shadow it. Thats how its done in photoshop but i dont know if you can do a drop shadow to a layer in GIMP.

by **Telvannia** on Fri Jun 29, 2007 9:29 am

im using gimp 2.2.11
i need to know if anyone has a way to rotate something with out it blurring, for my map i want to rotate buildings to fit the area i want them in, at it is easier to make them as a rectangle then rotate than make it on a angle.

by **DiM** on Fri Jun 29, 2007 10:56 am

Telvannia wrote:im using gimp 2.2.11
i need to know if anyone has a way to rotate something with out it blurring, for my map i want to rotate buildings to fit the area i want them in, at it is easier to make them as a rectangle then rotate than make it on a angle.

read here:
http://world.std.com/~mmcirvin/gimp_tutorial/rotate_crop.html

by **Telvannia** on Wed Jul 04, 2007 3:30 am

Does anyone know a good quick way to make animations using gimp?

by **DiM** on Wed Jul 04, 2007 9:27 am

Telvannia wrote:Does anyone know a good quick way to make animations using gimp?

here you go 2 tutorials to animations in GIMP:

http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/Simple_Animations/

http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/Advanced_Animations/

by **Balsiefen** on Sat Jul 07, 2007 8:17 am

I'm using gimp for my scotland map but i need a way of getting good, even lines for the sear routs. Is there a tool i'm missing or not using properly?

EDIT:ok ive worked that one out now

by **DiM** on Thu Jul 19, 2007 9:40 am

sorry to make this topic but i had no idea who to ask and were to post. it can be deleted after i get my answer.

so here's the question. how can i merge some brushes or layer styles or shapes?

i have let's say basic brushes file and assorted brushes file. and i want all of them in one single file because i'm tired of switching between them all the time.

thanks.

by **mibi** on Thu Jul 19, 2007 9:59 am

you keep loading new brushes and make sure to APPEND to the current set. then when you have all the brushes you want you save the brush set as something else.

by **DiM** on Thu Jul 19, 2007 10:02 am

k tanks mibi. =D>

/topic closed

by **Spockers** on Thu Jul 19, 2007 4:34 pm

I wouldn't be concerned about topics like this, Dim.

I think it's the best place for them, and there probably should be a lot more.

by **fireedud** on Thu Jul 19, 2007 5:30 pm

Spockers wrote:I wouldn't be concerned about topics like this, Dim.

I think it's the best place for them, and there probably should be a lot more.

Omg, is that your first positive comment?

by **gimil** on Thu Jul 19, 2007 5:32 pm

fireedud wrote:
Spockers wrote:I wouldn't be concerned about topics like this, Dim.

I think it's the best place for them, and there probably should be a lot more.

Omg, is that your first positive comment?

*sniffs*

Such a proud day.

by **Spockers** on Thu Jul 19, 2007 7:14 pm

All my comments are positive. You just look at them the wrong way.

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