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Thread: Work Flow- Raster Vrs Vector Vrs Combo

  1. #1

    Default Work Flow- Raster Vrs Vector Vrs Combo

    A cheery wave to all...

    I am perched on a shakey fence about software. I am just starting off and wanted to get a few things straight at the beginning so I don't buy software and spend 3 months playing with it before finding out it can't do 'what I want'. Well what do you want do you ask? I have been playing with GIMP and I think it is nifty. But I find the learning curve frustrating. Moral would increase if I could get right into map making and gradually work in other software to tweak things I have made. Being new this presents some possible unforeseeable issues. I don't mind shelling out a bit of dough so I have looked at CC3, Other World Mapper and Wonderdraft so far.

    How would you evaluate their compatibility with other software? Any comments regarding opinions are also welcome. Am I right?-

    CC3 is purely vector based. So you can't export maps back and forth to other programs (even other vector based programs). But you can import graphics into CC3. CC3 has years of addition (pricey) material to work with.

    OWM is a combination of raster and vector based systems. I want to say you can import/export the maps into other raster editors but I am not sure what that would look like. I have no opinion of OWM except that the colors look a bit funny to me. Like maybe a blending thing, hence the additional software.

    Wonderdraft is a a raster based program so it seems like it is similarly flexible (and a ridiculously intuitive program from the tutorials). But it doesn't seem to be an especially capable program. If you use the program a lot you better really like the style of map.

    As a side note: I am also purchasing a tablet soon. Maybe XP Pen... But that is a discussion for a different thread.

  2. #2

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    You're right in that it depends what you want to do. Programs like Inkarnate, Wonderdraft, CC3 are incredibly easy to learn and work with. But what you see is what you get. I've seen so many of these maps and they start to look very similar. If you love the art style in any of those programs and you're not into struggling up a learning curve for a more robust program, save yourself the headache and just use them. I've used Inkarnate for some projects and I've been happy with it. It's great for what it is. For another map I'm working on, I want it to look like some of the great maps I've seen on this guild and for that, I need Photoshop. I have no artistic ability and started from zero in terms of PS learning curve so it's been incredibly frustrating and I get into cycles where I get over a hump but then run into another hurdle and just abandoned it for months and then come back to it. So yeah....it depends what your goal is. I recommend you take a look at the finished maps on here to get an idea of what you're going for. Then find out how those maps were made and back into the software from there.

  3. #3
    Guild Adept KMAlexander's Avatar
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    I tend to use a combo of vector and raster for my projects.

    Vector tends to be my goto with repeating patterns (especially since PS doesn't do the smoothest job) and for text.
    Then I tend to bring it into PS for non-destructive editing/blending/texture/etc.

    Oh, I should add I work 100% in Adobe products. But that's more out of habit than necessity. There's a ton of great alternatives out there these days.

  4. #4

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    i ended up buying CC3+ for a project but realised i didn't quite have the time to tackle the learning curve. i'm more impressed with everyone's works here though.

  5. #5
    Guild Artisan damonjynx's Avatar
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    I'm with K.M. Alexander. My son was doing a graphic design course years ago and got Adobe CS4 at the student rate, I've been using it ever since. I'd like to do more with Ai - some of the things you can do with it blow my mind but in some respects it's harder/more work than Ps.

    Dependant on your budget and whether or not you want CAD style maps (CC3) or more 'hand drawn' maps i'd just stick with public domain software, GIMP, Inkscape for example. Regardless of what road you travel there will be a learning curve, admittedly some are steeper than others. When I eventually replace my 12 year old Mac, there is a distinct possibility that the Adobe CS4 may not run well on it, in which case I'll be using the aforementioned software.
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  6. #6
    Professional Artist Tiana's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Silky Johnson View Post
    OWM is a combination of raster and vector based systems. I want to say you can import/export the maps into other raster editors but I am not sure what that would look like. I have no opinion of OWM except that the colors look a bit funny to me. Like maybe a blending thing, hence the additional software.
    Yeah, the colors are a bit weird because right now it only allows you to blend with opacity and to colorize raster elements with a couple of more options, instead of the 15-20 blending modes many photo editing raster programs provide. That's the one thing about it that forces me to go work in another program to get the results I want. Otherwise it's quite nice. But yeah, you can take your file and work on top in a raster program, but you could do that with CC3 too. You can't keep the layers intact, I don't think. It does let you import GIS data, a niche need but definitely interesting, and I like how easy it is to load with raster elements / my own textures, I just wish I had several more blending modes for when I add textures to things. You could save multiple layers to put together in a raster program of your choice, though. I've done that.

    Wonderdraft maps do have a specific look to them but it's a cheap program, I haven't tried it, I assume it's similar to OWM but without the vector based elements that make OWM ultimately more powerful from my perspective, which is why I got it instead of Wonderdraft. Both of them seem far more intuitive than CC3, which some people love but I feel like it's less of the instant map kit that you're hoping for, compared to the other two you listed.

    I totally recommend a tablet. Every one I've ever had has served me well and none of them have broken before I upgraded to a bigger tablet.

    Quote Originally Posted by damonjynx View Post
    I'd like to do more with Ai - some of the things you can do with it blow my mind but in some respects it's harder/more work than Ps.
    I would say in almost all respects it's harder than PS. I've left Adobe products behind but they're industry standard. I did request a couple of things in the Affinity forum that would make their software better for mapping. As it stands, I did try Illustrator CC and was impressed by how it's improved.

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  7. #7
    Community Leader Facebook Connected Badger's Avatar
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    I have Campaign Cartographer 3 and all the additional stuff that comes with it. I've been a big fan of it for a long time, but the learning curve on it is rather large, especially if you have never used a CAD based program. Once you get used to how things work though, you can do just about anything you want in it. But I quit using it sometime ago because I found that Photoshop is much easier to use (IMO) and it can do quite a bit more than CC3. Plus you can do so many more styles of maps than you can do with CC3 (again IMO)

    I had CS3 I bought with a student discount way back many years ago, then I seemed to have misplaced the disk or lost (something which I was not happy about, though there is still a chance it is somewhere in this house, buried under boxes in the closet) So I have to use Photoshop CC 2019, you no longer get to purchase the program, but have to pay a monthly fee to use it (like microsoft word) I think the standard rate is something like 22.00 american dollars a month. Which isn't too bad if you use it all the time or use it as part of you business. It's much better to get a student discount though.

    And I agree with Tiana, if you are going to map, you definitely want a tablet of some kind. It's soooo much easier.

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