What software should I use for this military-style map?

[Psych20]

Hi All,

I'm a psychology student trying to design map items for a psychometric test that look like this...



I am completely new to map-making, and am looking for a piece of software to make it easier. We're trying to spend under $300 if possible. I looked at OCAD, but $700 is a little steep. What do you guys recommend?

[EricPoehlsen]

Creating a map in that style can be done with any graphics program, or hand drawn. I'd suggest using Inkscape.

I don't know what university you go to, but have you thought about talking to some people from the geography department, maybe some professor can hand out your maps as a homework assignment

[Psych20]

Thanks, Eric. That's a good idea about the geography homework haha. I may suggest that. I know the mechanics of Photoshop very well, and Illustrator somewhat well. The problem is that I don't have much artistic talent (besides for web graphics, which aren't as pretty as maps), so I was hoping for something a little more driven by templates and predefined (though customizable) elements. It seems like there are some good options in this regard for game-style maps (e.g., Fractal mapper, Campaign Cartographer), but these seem to generate maps that are a bit too fanciful for our purposes (3d shading, etc.). So I guess I'm looking for something with the beginner-friendliness of Campaign Cartographer and the plain, no-frills output of OCAD. I'm not sure such a thing exists though.

[waldronate]

The Cartographer's Annual 2008 and The Cartographer?s Annual Vol 3 are examples of simpler styles done with CC3. ProFantasy's annuals have a whole lot of things that let you easily do many different styles from a basic map.