Best Software for Structure/Building Maps?

**Tiana** · 06-02-2022, 03:54 AM

Originally Posted by IllustratedPageBookDesign

I've also thought about using Dungeon Draft for the base layout then exporting to Photoshop and painting/drawing on top, using it as a reference.

That's what I do with OWM except I pipeline it to Clip Studio Paint, lol. I think this makes the best looking results and given your feelings about Inkarnate, it'll make you happiest. I will note, in Dungeon Draft you're still going to be making shapes like squares. While it has a painting style interface to set up the base texture, the shape of the interior is still going to be constructed in a vector-esque way, where you click to add lines and drag to make a room. That's just how interiors be. Then you'll be populating it by clicking stamps down, possibly stamps that you made by drawing but it will be stamp-style construction in any program to populate an interior.

There's one trick you can use that maybe you haven't thought of yet for working in a Photoshop-esque program to 'paint' or 'draw' instead of building shapes... you can draw with the clone stamp tool and not just stamp with it.

So if you have a texture set up You can also make a styled vector square and resize it to fit different rooms and keep a master file full of various styles you've created. Finally, you can set up brushes to stamp decor.

**IllustratedPageBookDesign** · 06-03-2022, 02:07 PM

I've paid the $20 and have been experimenting with DuneonDraft. I don't mind the squares so much in there, and I do like that the scale is in-built. It's certainly easier than working in Photoshop. And I think you're right. I just find the pre-built stuff like Inkarnate so limiting, even if it's useful as a guide. Many of the authors I work with send me Inkarnate maps as reference for what I'm creating for them.

Painting with the clone toll is a neat trick! I need to give that a go.