I would like to take my pen & paper world map and bring it into the digital age.
I'm looking to see if anyone has experience with either Wonderdraft, Inkarnate, or both, and give me an idea of what your experience has been like and if you have a preference.
If there is another mapping tool out there you have experience with I'd love to hear about it.
Note: I use Dungeondraft for my battle maps so I'm familiar with the UI that I assume Wodnerdraft similarly uses.
I use campaign cartographer, but it is a bear to figure it out unless you have experience with professional level drafting software. (I do not. It’s been a lot of trial and error. Mostly error.) Also not cheap. But the maps are really pretty if you can get them working.
I’m honestly not sure if I’d recommend it as much as, I already paid, so dammit I’m going to use the thing. Also, now that I think about it my version is about 15 years old, so it may be better now.
I use campaign cartographer, but it is a bear to figure it out unless you have experience with professional level drafting software. (I do not. It’s been a lot of trial and error. Mostly error.) Also not cheap. But the maps are really pretty if you can get them working.
I’m honestly not sure if I’d recommend it as much as, I already paid, so dammit I’m going to use the thing. Also, now that I think about it my version is about 15 years old, so it may be better now.
I've looked at CC and I'll be honest it just looks too complicated for my little brain.
I have found Inkarnate to be relatively easy to use (I still prefer pen and paper, but I've been running campaigns over Zoom due to the pandemic and there's just some utility in having a nice digital copy that can be easily circulated). The free version is fairly decent--you get fewer stickers and cannot do as many fun things with the map, but it has all the basics. Trees for forests, mountains, a number of different types of marker so you can designate cities/towns/capitals/landmarks differently, different colors so you can denote different biomes, etc. One of the big drawbacks of the free system is the lack of road drawing tool... but you can just choose a dark color and paint a road onto your map.
I have not utilized Wonderdraft before, so I cannot speak to that.
I went trough this a little while back. I went with Wonderdraft because it was a one-time purchase, and if I decide to publish anything, it is mine to use as I see fit. Inkarnate technically owns the maps you make.
For the old-style hexmaps, Hexographer cannot be beat.
Just get Wonderdraft, you will not be disappointed.
I went trough this a little while back. I went with Wonderdraft because it was a one-time purchase, and if I decide to publish anything, it is mine to use as I see fit. Inkarnate technically owns the maps you make.
For the old-style hexmaps, Hexographer cannot be beat.
Just get Wonderdraft, you will not be disappointed.
Thanks for the information! Are you able to build city level map with Wonderdraft or it is just good for large-scale maps?
I went trough this a little while back. I went with Wonderdraft because it was a one-time purchase, and if I decide to publish anything, it is mine to use as I see fit. Inkarnate technically owns the maps you make.
For the old-style hexmaps, Hexographer cannot be beat.
Just get Wonderdraft, you will not be disappointed.
Thanks for the information! Are you able to build city level map with Wonderdraft or it is just good for large-scale maps?
I have not tried city-level maps with it yet. Only continent-sized stuff right now.
My experience is basically the same as C_G. Have used Inkarnate for a while now and I feel like it's been fine for my needs. Every now and then I need some stamps that it doesn't have, but since we are still on roll20 for now I can always layer things on in there. One thing I'll say for Inkarnate is that they've come a long way and seem to be continually improving and expanding what they have to offer. They also seem to be responsive to community feedback. I have not tried Wonderdraft, so I can't offer much in the way of comparisons there.
I have not tried Inkarnate because when I looked at it a few years back I was worried that it would be missing elements I wanted without paying and didn't want to spend time on a free map just to try it to decide if I wanted to subscribe. In fairness, I may have missed out by making that decision. That said, I use Wonderdraft and have really enjoyed it. Here is a sample world map I made using it: http://shmurp.com/images/Tavu_full_sm.png
I have not tried Inkarnate because when I looked at it a few years back I was worried that it would be missing elements I wanted without paying and didn't want to spend time on a free map just to try it to decide if I wanted to subscribe. In fairness, I may have missed out by making that decision. That said, I use Wonderdraft and have really enjoyed it. Here is a sample world map I made using it: http://shmurp.com/images/Tavu_full_sm.png
This is exactly what I want to do! Take my Watabou maps and import them and upgrade the design. What did you do to accomplish that look like you did with your sample?
Basically I created a city that I liked, then made sure the buildings were tinted to a color I liked and then set everything else I didn't want to keep to white and saved it. Then I used the color selector on the MFCG to set the water to black and everything else to white and saved that as a separate file. Created a new map in Wonderdraft and then used Import to import the second image (the one with water set to black). Import will turn anything that is not white into water and leave the rest as land. Then used the Overlay Trace tool (select Overlay, and then the 3 pane icon below it and use the Select option under Trace image to bring in the first image as an overlay. I used Photoshop to get rid of the white areas (if you don't have that you can download GIMP for free and use that, there are probably other programs as well). Then I used the brush tool in Wonderdraft to fill in the roads with color, added trees, etc.
I just don’t like there isn’t a good fog of war on inkarnate, or a tool to move the map side to side as you’re working on it. A few other things too. Maybe I’ll try this wonderdraft out...
I would like to take my pen & paper world map and bring it into the digital age.
I'm looking to see if anyone has experience with either Wonderdraft, Inkarnate, or both, and give me an idea of what your experience has been like and if you have a preference.
If there is another mapping tool out there you have experience with I'd love to hear about it.
Note: I use Dungeondraft for my battle maps so I'm familiar with the UI that I assume Wodnerdraft similarly uses.
I've only used wonderdraft but I've seen maps made by inkarnate and wonderdraft maps look much better. That being written if you are using their dungeondraft you are probably already familiar with wonderdrafts gui, so it will probably be easier to work with.
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I would like to take my pen & paper world map and bring it into the digital age.
I'm looking to see if anyone has experience with either Wonderdraft, Inkarnate, or both, and give me an idea of what your experience has been like and if you have a preference.
If there is another mapping tool out there you have experience with I'd love to hear about it.
Note: I use Dungeondraft for my battle maps so I'm familiar with the UI that I assume Wodnerdraft similarly uses.
I use campaign cartographer, but it is a bear to figure it out unless you have experience with professional level drafting software. (I do not. It’s been a lot of trial and error. Mostly error.) Also not cheap. But the maps are really pretty if you can get them working.
I’m honestly not sure if I’d recommend it as much as, I already paid, so dammit I’m going to use the thing. Also, now that I think about it my version is about 15 years old, so it may be better now.
I've looked at CC and I'll be honest it just looks too complicated for my little brain.
I'm a fan of old-style hex maps. I'm pretty happy with Hexographer for these.
Sample map
I have found Inkarnate to be relatively easy to use (I still prefer pen and paper, but I've been running campaigns over Zoom due to the pandemic and there's just some utility in having a nice digital copy that can be easily circulated). The free version is fairly decent--you get fewer stickers and cannot do as many fun things with the map, but it has all the basics. Trees for forests, mountains, a number of different types of marker so you can designate cities/towns/capitals/landmarks differently, different colors so you can denote different biomes, etc. One of the big drawbacks of the free system is the lack of road drawing tool... but you can just choose a dark color and paint a road onto your map.
I have not utilized Wonderdraft before, so I cannot speak to that.
I went trough this a little while back. I went with Wonderdraft because it was a one-time purchase, and if I decide to publish anything, it is mine to use as I see fit. Inkarnate technically owns the maps you make.
For the old-style hexmaps, Hexographer cannot be beat.
Just get Wonderdraft, you will not be disappointed.
Thanks for the information! Are you able to build city level map with Wonderdraft or it is just good for large-scale maps?
I've never done Hex level mapping but I'm going to check this out to see how it works. Thanks!
I have not tried city-level maps with it yet. Only continent-sized stuff right now.
My experience is basically the same as C_G. Have used Inkarnate for a while now and I feel like it's been fine for my needs. Every now and then I need some stamps that it doesn't have, but since we are still on roll20 for now I can always layer things on in there. One thing I'll say for Inkarnate is that they've come a long way and seem to be continually improving and expanding what they have to offer. They also seem to be responsive to community feedback. I have not tried Wonderdraft, so I can't offer much in the way of comparisons there.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
I have not tried Inkarnate because when I looked at it a few years back I was worried that it would be missing elements I wanted without paying and didn't want to spend time on a free map just to try it to decide if I wanted to subscribe. In fairness, I may have missed out by making that decision. That said, I use Wonderdraft and have really enjoyed it. Here is a sample world map I made using it:
http://shmurp.com/images/Tavu_full_sm.png
I also made this city map by exporting a file from this city generator (https://watabou.itch.io/medieval-fantasy-city-generator) and importing it into Wonderdraft:
http://shmurp.com/images/Baeselka_small.png
Some of the Wonderdraft assets came from this site: https://www.cartographyassets.com (down at the moment)
Hope this helps!
This is exactly what I want to do! Take my Watabou maps and import them and upgrade the design. What did you do to accomplish that look like you did with your sample?
Basically I created a city that I liked, then made sure the buildings were tinted to a color I liked and then set everything else I didn't want to keep to white and saved it. Then I used the color selector on the MFCG to set the water to black and everything else to white and saved that as a separate file. Created a new map in Wonderdraft and then used Import to import the second image (the one with water set to black). Import will turn anything that is not white into water and leave the rest as land. Then used the Overlay Trace tool (select Overlay, and then the 3 pane icon below it and use the Select option under Trace image to bring in the first image as an overlay. I used Photoshop to get rid of the white areas (if you don't have that you can download GIMP for free and use that, there are probably other programs as well). Then I used the brush tool in Wonderdraft to fill in the roads with color, added trees, etc.
Hopefully that makes sense. There is a video that covers it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQUacugVVMU
I just don’t like there isn’t a good fog of war on inkarnate, or a tool to move the map side to side as you’re working on it. A few other things too. Maybe I’ll try this wonderdraft out...
DM - And In The Darkness, Rot: The Sunless Citadel
DM - Our Little Lives Kept In Equipoise: Curse of Strahd
DM - Misprize Thou Not These Shadows That Belong: The Lost Mines of Phandelver
PC - Azzure - Tyranny of Dragons
I've only used wonderdraft but I've seen maps made by inkarnate and wonderdraft maps look much better. That being written if you are using their dungeondraft you are probably already familiar with wonderdrafts gui, so it will probably be easier to work with.