New user having problem with backgrounds and fillers

I'm not sure if this is where I should post this or what. Just bought CC3+ yesterday. I have been messing around with it now for 5 hours or so and I'm not sure if I'm doing this right or not.

This is what I'm trying to do.

Get an edge fade, inner to work on these below.

Hills background, Hills Filler, Mountain background, Mountain Filler, then my mountains themselves. Now I have done this on one sheet and a sheet for each one. The edge fade effect I have set only seems to work on the very bottom Item. So in this case the Hills background fades great but the other 3 have no fade whatsoever. I have tried adding each one on their own sheet but still have the same problem. Even did layers for each just to make sure. Still doesn't do what I want.

My thinking is I can't have effects on items on top of each other like that or there is something I'm not seeing with this template and brush(not sure if that's what it's called) that is causing this.

I have added a background on another part of the map and it fades just fine just won't do it on top of one already there. Is that a bug or what am I missing?

Also I would like to ask if there are any new video's on this software. I have found some that have helped me but they are like 7 years old. I'm talking about the ones on the profantasy website. I can't seem to find any videos on the more advanced features.

Anyway, thanks in advance if you can answer my questions.

Comments

  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 40 images Cartographer
    Hi LeethalGambit :)

    Welcome to the Profantasy forum!

    I am only visiting briefly this morning, since I have an interview later, but I'm sure one of the others will be able to help you if I can't.

    It certainly sounds like you have done all the right things. If you could upload the FCW file maybe one of us could solve the problem a little faster for you :)
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 40 images Cartographer
    Back from the disastrous interview!

    Re-reading your comment I think I missed something earlier. You suggest that the edge fade inner doesn't work if you put polygons on top of one another. If I understand you correctly you are hoping that the fade will work separately on all the polygons you put on the same sheet, but this isn't so. If you want to make the edge fade on a succession of overlapping and overlying polygons, each of them will need to be on their own separate sheet, with their own separate Edge Fade Inner effect.

    For example if I had several areas of desert I would put them all on a sheet called something like TERRIAN desert, and then if I had several areas of scrubland that needed to merge into the desert areas I would put all of them on a sheet called TERRAIN scrubland. Similarly, if I had a lot of grassland I'd put it all on a sheet called TERRAIN grassland, and so on, so that the desert would blend into the scrubland, which would blend into the grassland. No hard edges between them.
  • Ah ok. The thing is I tried that. I left hills background on it's default sheet then I made another sheet for hills filler to go on top of that. When I copy the effect from the default sheet exactly it still does not fade. It had the edge width at 0.8 so I tried changing that to 10 or so to see if that was the problem. It didn't do anything. I'm using the Mike Schley Overland map pre-defined template, the 1000x800 one.

    When I make a new sheet and layer, mine is called Hills filler, and after I select the tool I want to use it tries to change the sheet and layer. I have to manually change it back after I select the tool I want. I don't think that would have anything to do with this but I thought I would throw that in.

    Do I need to create an effects preset as well as a sheet and layer to get this to work? Right now the Effects presets is CC3 Mike Schley.

    I am going to attach the FCW in hopes that someone will explain to me what I'm doing wrong.
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 40 images Cartographer
    I'll have a look at it. I'm just trying to save and close a really big file ATM. Be back to you in a few minutes :)
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 40 images Cartographer
    edited November 2016
    When you use some of the drawing tools you will find that they do indeed force the object being drawn to be placed on a particular sheet. This is what happened with your hills fill that I presume you were trying to put on the Hill filler sheet you created. You might have thought you were putting it on the Hill filler sheet, but the drawing tool you were using forced it to drop back onto its predestined sheet - the same sheet that you had the hills background fill on (which is why the hills did not fade nicely into the hills background)

    I have moved the hills fill onto the Hills Filler sheet for you. For future reference this can be done by right clicking the sheets button and choosing 'move to sheet', then clicking the object you want to move, right clicking and choosing 'do it'.

    At least... I I'm hoping that's what you wanted to achieve?

    You can change the way a drawing tool behaves in a given drawing, but I would rather not try to describe how that works. There are others here who know far more than I do about such things ;)
  • Nice! thank you for the help. So even though I selected the hills fill sheet after clicking the tool and it saying S: hills fill at the top it was really putting it back on the land features sheet. Am I understanding that correctly?

    That move to sheet seems to do exactly what I want.

    Thank you so much Loopysue!
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 40 images Cartographer
    If a drawing tool is set to place the object it draws on a certain sheet, then that is what it will do, no matter what you do to try and force it to sit on a different sheet.

    You can modify the way drawing tools behave by editing the settings.

    1. Click the crossed hammer tool on the left

    2. Click 'advanced', and then in the 'custom drawing tools' window (and making sure you have the correct drawing tool selected) click the 'Properties' button

    3. Tick 'Use current properties throughout'.

    4. Ok and save as required to all of this, and you will have a tool that will draw its polygon on the sheet and layer of your choosing with the currently selected fill.

    If I have made a mistake in these instructions I know that one of the others will put it right for you before long, but we do seem to be a bit thin on the ground right now :)
  • JimPJimP 🖼️ 280 images Cartographer
    edited November 2016
    If you do a move to sheet, it will move to that sheet. CC3/CC3+ wont put it back on the sheet it came from if you do that.

    But note thats just on the map you are working on. Of course, you can import a template, save as a different filename, and make modifications to it. Then all maps you make with the modified template will put things where you want them.
  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 81 images Cartographer
    Posted By: LoopysueYou can modify the way drawing tools behave by editing the settings.
    Just a warning, that if you do modify your drawing tools, that action is global to that style, and will affect future usage of that tool in all maps of that style. I generally recommend creating new drawing tools, not editing the existing ones, which is as simple as clicking the 'New' button in the drawing tool window after modifying the tool, instead of 'save' (or closing the window and saying 'yes' to saving)
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