How to push a symbol behind another symbol?

Having some issues with this....

Here I have a tree, I want to be pushed back behind the bottom city symbol. Obviously I want the tree to be in front of the city symbol already behind it...

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I tried the send to back, send below. It's not working.

Comments

  • Personally, I create a "Tree" Sheet to keep all my trees where I want them in relation to symbols. Depending on the map, I've even created a Tree Front and Tree Back and Bushes to keep them in their right place, as well as make sure the shadows for the bushes are shorter than shadows for tall trees. Or....you could just type SYMSORT in the command line and that'll sort out all the SYMBOLS
  • The tree has to be on a sheet that is below the sheet the house is on.
  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 46 images Cartographer
    In this case, the simplest is to make sure that the tree is on the same sheet as the city symbols, as then you can arrange the symbols using bring in front of/send behind, or as Lorelei points out, use the sort symbols in map command.
  • Why do my symbols keep going to the wrong sheet, even If I KNOW I set my active sheet to what I want... Nothing draws right, then it completely messes everything up...

    Why is everything about CC3 just, so damn un-intuitive...

    Starting to regret even getting this app as a gift. Feeling like it was money wasted if it takes this much busy work to push a vector symbol behind another vector symbol.....
  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 46 images Cartographer
    By default, symbols choose their own sheet instead of using the active one. While there are certainly situations where this isn't what you need, for the most time this helps ensure that everything ends up in the correct location and saves you from constantly changing sheets manually (and a whole lot of work afterwards if you forgot to change the sheet). You can turn off this behavior by clicking the options button above the symbol catalog. Normally, I recommend keeping this on, and simply use change properties on the symbols aftewrwars, but if you need to place a lot of symbols on non-standard sheets, it is helpful to temporarily turn off this feature.
  • https://i.imgur.com/5qWKtMA.jpg

    For exmaple, I changed the moutain at the VERT bottom, the tall one, put it to the back, did no touch the trees layer, and it messes up ALL my trees near the city...
  • image

    The fact that the trees near my castle can not easily be just put behind the repsectiv mountains, means I can not for example in the progress of working on my map change my mind without a TON of busy work. This is absolutely terrible.
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 39 images Cartographer
    I used to get pretty irritated by the automatic sheet placement, but in the long run it works a lot better than having no system at all for what goes where. I learned this when I created a city map with more than 130 sheets - a tiered city.

    Without looking at the FCW file it is difficult to know what to suggest for the best for this map. There are several ways of achieving the desired outcome, but if it were my personal choice I would create a new mountain sheet called exactly the same as the original mountains sheet, but with the added word 'foreground' at the end of the name. I would then put all the mountains that are in front of the city and tree sheets onto this new mountain sheet.

    However, this will only work if you don't intend to put more city or tree symbols in front of the foreground mountains....

    Do you intend to do that?
  • https://drive.google.com/file/d/150caOrs2QTjsQ0x9M12gUJMxKmomEd7W/view?usp=sharing

    There is the current file.

    If anyone out there is willing to give me some one on one to help me learn a work flow that doesn't make me want to tear my hair out, I would be be super appreciative. So far this software seems like a clunky mess, and the 6-7 hours of videos I have watch have been less than helpful. I really want this software to work for me, not against me. I understand it's my first week with this, but I picked up blender, PS, UE4, Unity, and many others in significantly less time.
  • I should not have to pre plan all my intentions I feel, I should be able to make those decision at any point in the design process. And if I can not, then this software is useless. I may as well do all my mapping in gimp.
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 39 images Cartographer
    Thank you for the link, Jason :)

    Unfortunately I am logged in to my Linux partition right now, and have no idea how WINE works (being a Linux newbie). I will have to log out and back into a very problematical Windows 10 partition on this dual boot system to be able to download and see the file open in CC3+ - by which time its quite possible that someone else may have stepped in to assist you... which may even be for the best, since I am by no means an expert and *have* been known to unwittingly give rather misleading advice on occasion before now.
  • Starting out, CC3+ may be overwhelming, but once you get the hang of the basics its a great program. The learning curve is rather steep, I will admit. A couple important things I learned (and still need to remind myself of from time to time) is that CC3+ is a CAD program so the commands are nothing like a standard graphics program like GIMP or Photoshop and that it does take some work and practice to master some commands. Believe it or not, eventually, it does become intuitive. What you call busy work is just putting pieces of your map in order. And no, you don't have to plan it all out ahead of time. Creating a new sheet is simple and quick, and having things on different sheets is actually a blessing at times, especially if you need to change or delete things in tight spaces. You can just hide everything else and work on whatever it is you need to edit without other pieces getting in the way and accidentally getting changed or deleted. Many forum users create very nice maps, and a few have risen to works of art (like Lorelei's and Sue's maps, for instance).
  • image

    I feel like I have slain a great beast.

    After many hours, and lots of cursing and fits. I have my first CC3+ map.
  • Nicely done. It looks like you figured out how to place the trees behind the hills.

    You look like you are well on your way to starting great looking maps. If you are looking for help more quickly than the forums then you could try the facebook group that daplunk started, or you could try the Discord server. Do a search for them both here and you should be able to find the relevant threads with links.

    Me personally, I prefer to put my questions up right here on this forum and someone always comes along and answers it, usually in detail. So that is why I like these forums the best.

    Anyway, welcome to the forums and good luck on your next map.
  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 46 images Cartographer
    Looking great.

    And don't worry. As ScottA said, there can be a learning curve for CC3+. This is partially in fact that it is a very different program from lots of the progras most people are used to working with. But once you get to learn and understand CC3+ properly, most users find it quick and easy to work with, and with great power and flexibility. If you haven't done so already, I really recommend working through the tutorials in the manual, they are intended to teach you a lot of the core understanding needed to work efficiently with CC3+.
    Personally, I have way more problems wrapping my head around things like Photoshop, which I personally find having one of the worst and most un-intuitive user alienating UI's out there, but I know opinions differ.
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 39 images Cartographer
    Ah ha! I see you have solved it anyway without me having to do battle with the dreaded Win 10 dragon, which as far as I am concerned has three nasty fire breathing heads right now!

    Great looking map, Jason.

    Looking forward to many more :)
  • Yes, Jason, as the others have said, very nice, especially for a first map. And welcome. Just try to be patient and stay (relatively) calm, and you'll pick it up. I've had my bouts of exasperation with it, too, but eventually, it all works out. And this is the nicest, most helpful forum I've ever seen. Everyone is willing to help answer questions or solve problems other users are having, share works in progress, give suggestions and share tips, etc., and no one is ever snarky or nasty or makes anyone else feel stupid. It's a lovely community here.
  • Yes, thank you all for being so kind to me.

    I hope someone sees this thread one day and it shows them that at the end of the tunnel, there is nice looking maps.
  • When Sheets was first brought up, we were asked about symbol placement. The majority of us wanted symbols to to go to correct sheets, along with other items.

    I have found that 'sort symbols in map' and 'bring to front' works for most instances. Since symbols are mostly on the Symbols sheet, there are exceptions, you can use 'bring to front' on two symbols that should be the oposite of the way they display. i.e. tree in front of castle, or castle in front of tree.

    If that doesn't do it, add another sheet, and move sheet the symbol to the new sheet.
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