Best Practices for making maps
Hello all, At the suggestion of a friend, I have downloaded and installed Inkscape on my home PC running Ubuntu. What I would like to use this program to do is to create maps. The maps in question would be maps of a fantasy world (like what you would find on the inside cover of a copy of The Hobbit). Inkscape looks like it would be able to pull this off fairly well, but I wanted to run the idea by the list to see if anyone had done this before. If so, do you have any suggestions on how to make the experience easier? I figure I can't be the first person to do this, so...
Also, how hard is it to make an object that is reusable? For instance, if I made a really cool graphic that represented a castle, how could I easily reuse it in multiple maps?
Thanks, Will
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On Wed, 5 Dec 2007 12:48:38 -0800 (PST) Will Gant <williamwgant@...12...> wrote:
Hello all, At the suggestion of a friend, I have downloaded and installed Inkscape on my home PC running Ubuntu. What I would like to use this program to do is to create maps. The maps in question would be maps of a fantasy world (like what you would find on the inside cover of a copy of The Hobbit). Inkscape looks like it would be able to pull this off fairly well, but I wanted to run the idea by the list to see if anyone had done this before. If so, do you have any suggestions on how to make the experience easier? I figure I can't be the first person to do this, so...
Also, how hard is it to make an object that is reusable? For instance, if I made a really cool graphic that represented a castle, how could I easily reuse it in multiple maps?
Thanks, Will
Not done maps, but I use Inkscape heavily for electronic drawings, which I think has similarities to what you want.
Start out by creating a file called (say) templates. Have the grid showing even if you don't lock to it so that you can check relative sizes of objects. Always create your new 'castles' etc. in this file (and don't forget to save the changes)!
As you create each new object drag a 'selection' box round it then do <ctrl>G so that all the bits become truly one object.
When you want to make a new map. Load the template file first then use File>New to create a blank document. This way you only have one instance of Inkscape and you can now select objects from your template drawing and copy them across to the new document.
First off, head over to www.cartographersguild.com where I am a commuinity leader. The focus there is primarily fantasy mapping using a variety of tools, including inkscape. I have posted a few examples there that use inkscape.
To answer your question, unce you have an object (or group) just drag it around and stamp copies with the spacebar. You migh also want to search the archive for an extension I wrote to restack groups of objects.
There are very few vector objevts around, so any you are willing to share would be great!
-Rob A
On 12/5/07, Will Gant <williamwgant@...12...> wrote:
Hello all, At the suggestion of a friend, I have downloaded and installed Inkscape on my home PC running Ubuntu. What I would like to use this program to do is to create maps. The maps in question would be maps of a fantasy world (like what you would find on the inside cover of a copy of The Hobbit). Inkscape looks like it would be able to pull this off fairly well, but I wanted to run the idea by the list to see if anyone had done this before. If so, do you have any suggestions on how to make the experience easier? I figure I can't be the first person to do this, so...
Also, how hard is it to make an object that is reusable? For instance, if I made a really cool graphic that represented a castle, how could I easily reuse it in multiple maps?
Thanks, Will
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hm - I tested this copying with the spacebar. The problem with this method is that it creates copies and not clones. I'd recommend to use clones (Edit -> Clone -> Create Clone, or shortcut Alt-D.
This method creates links to the original, using the svg:use/ element. This way you can easily select the original and change it and all dependent objects will change as well. I don't know if that works with external files as well. In SVG it works, but I don't know if Inkscape supports linking to external files.
Andreas
First off, head over to www.cartographersguild.com where I am a commuinity leader. The focus there is primarily fantasy mapping using a variety of tools, including inkscape. I have posted a few examples there that use inkscape.
To answer your question, unce you have an object (or group) just drag it around and stamp copies with the spacebar. You migh also want to search the archive for an extension I wrote to restack groups of objects.
There are very few vector objevts around, so any you are willing to share would be great!
-Rob A
On 12/5/07, Will Gant <williamwgant@...12...> wrote:
Hello all, At the suggestion of a friend, I have downloaded and installed Inkscape on my home PC running Ubuntu. What I would like to use this program to do is to create maps. The maps in question would be maps of a fantasy world (like what you would find on the inside cover of a copy of The Hobbit). Inkscape looks like it would be able to pull this off fairly well, but I wanted to run the idea by the list to see if anyone had done this before. If so, do you have any suggestions on how to make the experience easier? I figure I can't be the first person to do this, so...
Also, how hard is it to make an object that is reusable? For instance, if I made a really cool graphic that represented a castle, how could I easily reuse it in multiple maps?
Thanks, Will
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Rob Antonishen wrote:
There are very few vector objevts around, so any you are willing to share would be great!
We can start an initiative to collect a large (as large as possible) number of objects at the Open Clip Art Library. I played in the past with a few objects, but was only an experiment so I created only a small set. But they are pretty easy to do and quite fun, so if we manage to do something interesting (OCAL can run contests) the initiative may get successful.
That would be really helpful. I've been working on my artistic skills a little, but I would admit a strong prejudice towards using freely available stuff where possible, as my ability to draw is easily matched by most two year olds.
Also, if we have such a clip art library, is there any way we can add our own toolbars in inkscape such that we can add common or repeating elements quickly without copying and pasting?
Nicu Buculei <nicu_gfx@...2342...> wrote: Rob Antonishen wrote:
There are very few vector objevts around, so any you are willing to share would be great!
We can start an initiative to collect a large (as large as possible) number of objects at the Open Clip Art Library. I played in the past with a few objects, but was only an experiment so I created only a small set. But they are pretty easy to do and quite fun, so if we manage to do something interesting (OCAL can run contests) the initiative may get successful.
Will Gant wrote:
That would be really helpful. I've been working on my artistic skills a little, but I would admit a strong prejudice towards using freely available stuff where possible, as my ability to draw is easily matched by most two year olds.
The nice thing is, the most useful map elements could be drawn by a two year old! They are simple things like a tree, a hill or a house viewed from the top.
Also, if we have such a clip art library, is there any way we can add our own toolbars in inkscape such that we can add common or repeating elements quickly without copying and pasting?
For locally available images (like my own clipart) I prefer to use the file manager (Nautilus) which automatically show thumbnails, keep a window opened with my files and drag when I need inside Inkscape.
To import from openclipart.org, the development version has a nice feature: open a window, type some keyword and it will instantly search OCAL. Select from the list, a thumbnail is shown and if you like it, press the button and the file is imported.
*/Nicu Buculei/* wrote: Rob Antonishen wrote: > > There are very few vector objevts around, so any you are willing to > share would be great!
We can start an initiative to collect a large (as large as possible) number of objects at the Open Clip Art Library.
Nicu Buculei wrote:
Rob Antonishen wrote:
There are very few vector objevts around, so any you are willing to share would be great!
We can start an initiative to collect a large (as large as possible) number of objects at the Open Clip Art Library.
I uploaded all my existing symbols to the Open Clip Art Library: http://openclipart.org/media/tags/cartography I would be tempted to create some more but *only* if some other people start uploading similar images, is no fun to work on your own. Do not be afraid, these are intended to be functional not beautiful graphics.
I hope this can make it in to 0.46, as I think my slide making utility which needs this functionality could be quite useful.
How should patches be submitted now? Launchpad blueprints? It wasn't immediately obvious how to use them, so I made this bug instead:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+bug/174701
This is the patch to add the command line switch --query-all which dumps id,x,y,w,h for all objects with an Id.
I sent a version just to Bulia by mistake, meant to send it to the whole list, anyway the version on launchpad corrects the transposition of x,y with w,h in the version I sent Bulia :-}
Cheers -Terry
Terry Brown wrote:
I hope this can make it in to 0.46, as I think my slide making utility which needs this functionality could be quite useful.
How should patches be submitted now? Launchpad blueprints? It wasn't immediately obvious how to use them, so I made this bug instead:
I don't know about Launchpad (and won't touch it with a ten foot pole), bu this is the *users* list, the question is better asked on the development list. And to make it better noticeable, better use a new message (with "compose") instead of replying to an unrelated email.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+bug/174701
This is the patch to add the command line switch --query-all which dumps id,x,y,w,h for all objects with an Id.
I sent a version just to Bulia by mistake, meant to send it to the whole list, anyway the version on launchpad corrects the transposition of x,y with w,h in the version I sent Bulia :-}
Donn wrote:
OT:
I don't know about Launchpad (and won't touch it with a ten foot pole),
I am currently looking for an open source project host and was eyeing Launchpad, would you mind saying why you won't go near LP?
My personal issues are with its Ubuntu ties, but generally: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Launchpad_%28website%29#Criticism
... but I wanted to run the idea by the list to see if anyone had done this before. If so, do you have any suggestions on how to make the experience easier? I figure I can't be the first person to do this, so...
FWIW, I've also wanted to start doing this at one point in history. I started by downloading a set of map symbols that someone called nicu is sharing (never got very far though, due to lack of time). Asking Google for nicu & rpg should bring you to his site. I don't know if he is involved in the community Rob has mentioned.
Elfi
Elfi Heck wrote:
... but I wanted to run the idea by the list to see if anyone had done this before. If so, do you have any suggestions on how to make the experience easier? I figure I can't be the first person to do this, so...
FWIW, I've also wanted to start doing this at one point in history. I started by downloading a set of map symbols that someone called nicu is sharing (never got very far though, due to lack of time). Asking Google for nicu & rpg should bring you to his site. I don't know if he is involved in the community Rob has mentioned.
Haha! You are talking about the map I made a couple of years ago http://nicubunu.ro/pictures/rpg/inkscape_rpg_map.png and the SVG symbols here http://clipart.nicubunu.ro/?gallery=rpg_map
Haha! You are talking about the map I made a couple of years ago http://nicubunu.ro/pictures/rpg/inkscape_rpg_map.png and the SVG symbols here http://clipart.nicubunu.ro/?gallery=rpg_map
Yes, they're the ones I was talking about. I like them. Thank you for sharing them.
Elfi
Hello all, At the suggestion of a friend, I have downloaded and installed Inkscape on my home PC running Ubuntu. What I would like to use this program to do is to create maps. The maps in question would be maps of a fantasy world (like what you would find on the inside cover of a copy of The Hobbit). Inkscape looks like it would be able to pull this off fairly well, but I wanted to run the idea by the list to see if anyone had done this before. If so, do you have any suggestions on how to make the experience easier? I figure I can't be the first person to do this, so...
I have spent the last 18 months drawing maps with Inkscape and I find it very good. Not quite your type, one style like this http://www.camcycle.org.uk/newsletters/74/article9.html and another more detailed that isn't publicly online, but I would send individual copies to anyone interested.
The main maps are now well over 2Mb for the .svg and have a 40Mb bitmap derived from national maps as background. It takes over 5 minutes to dump the final bitmap at 90dpi, but Inkscape has been very reliable despite this abuse.
Mike
reliable despite this abuse ;-)
Mike
Will Gant <williamwgant@...12...> writes:
Inkscape looks like it would be able to pull this off fairly well
It doesn't. I'm a spline modeler and inkscape does not offer the spline tools required for this kind of work, yet, in my opinion.
This is the kind of work I do: (made in inkscape)
http://www.esben-stien.name/scape.png
It's very tedious to do this in inkscape, because it does not offer the low level tools you normally use when doing this work.
Just curious then, what tool would you recommend?
Esben Stien <b0ef@...2065...> wrote: Will Gant writes:
Inkscape looks like it would be able to pull this off fairly well
It doesn't. I'm a spline modeler and inkscape does not offer the spline tools required for this kind of work, yet, in my opinion.
This is the kind of work I do: (made in inkscape)
http://www.esben-stien.name/scape.png
It's very tedious to do this in inkscape, because it does not offer the low level tools you normally use when doing this work.
Will Gant <williamwgant@...12...> writes:
what tool would you recommend?
I can't recommend any tool. I follow projects that pursue the goal of powerful spline tools, such as ayam, varkon and brl-cad, but none of these are ready for full use, yet. Ayam has the most powerful spline tools in the free software world, though, but still lacks core utils that make it very hard to work with.
participants (10)
-
unknown＠example.com -
Abrolag -
Andreas Neumann -
Donn -
Elfi Heck -
Esben Stien -
Nicu Buculei -
Rob Antonishen -
Terry Brown -
Will Gant