You could use a variety of styles that might reflect the culture of the map maker. These days most real world maps seem to look fairly similar, but that was not always the case.

Hi Everyone :)

Ralf is back to live mapping tomorrow (Thursday), with a look at the latest Annual issue: Forest Trail by Sue Daniel... Oh that's me! :)

You can watch it here on the forum

Or join us on YouTube live to chat and ask questions here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9krjirmlL4

The choice of trees is up to you, but something to bear in mind when borrowing things from other styles is that while you might love the look of the trees from an alternative style that doesn't mean they will automatically be the best match for the style of the map you are making. If you don't like the combination maybe try a few other styles, including the trees native to the style of the map. Similar styles usually work better together than vastly different ones, and it is usually easier if the two styles have a similar colour scheme.

Looks great :)

The grass patches should be the same scale as the grass fill as long as they are set to the default symbol scale of 1. I have noticed that there are points as you zoom in and out of maps with a mixture of fill and patch that the patches sometimes 'click' to the next resolution slightly before the fill does. This shouldn't be a problem when exporting as all will be exported at the same resolution, but it can look like the patches are wrong in the CC3 window at certain zoom levels.

The other possible mismatch is if you are using the fill from one style and the patches from the other style. Creepy Crypts grass does not exactly match Forest Trail patches, and same vice versa. I personally prefer the Forest Trail grass texture and patches, but it's down to personal taste in the end.

That looks a lot better with the bevel on the land too. How about using an Edge Fade, Inner on that sea contour to blend the two ocean colours together just a little?

I've just had confirmation from Ralf that he will be including the grid in the template for the final release, so don't worry if you haven't sorted out downloading it from here. It will be put in the same place in the published version.

Thanks very much @Ralf :D

You're welcome :)

And thanks for commenting. I needed to remember it was here and in need of an update.

Hi Everyone! :D

In this first Live Mapping session of 2023 Ralf will be presenting the first issue of the 2023 Cartographers Annual: 13th Age Revisited.

Or come along and join us/watch it on YouTube later, here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikes3janXWE

Hi Everyone! :D

In this mapping session Ralf will be demonstrating how to create a city map using the Cities if Schley (Symbol Set 5) style.

You can watch it here:

Or join us on YouTube here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSXpWOSJlJ4

Beautiful work, Daniel! :D