Holy smokes, it worked! (Once I read the PDF mapping guide to figure out that the Dracula Dossier maps are created under Floorplans and not Dungeons, that is.) These CAD files are .DWG files, and CC3 was able to import without any problems. Now I have to decide if this is the venue I want to use, and whether it would be easier to delete the stuff I don't need from the CAD import, or started from scratch drawing over a bitmap. Anyway, very excited to have new (for me) options to play with.

Here's the other map. Much smaller southern forest. This map has 2,380 trees -- nine more than the map above.

I redid the southern forest for the first map. I deleted the original blocks of mixed forest trees but kept the semi-transparent gray forest background, and then added a few thousand individual trees. Mostly deciduous and pine, with a healthy smattering of different-colored fruit trees along with a handful of barren trees and a surprise or two. There's something very peaceful about placing all of them individually -- though maybe that's easier to say when there's "only" 2,371 trees and not 41,000!

Here's a close-up of a bit of the forest.

On to the other map!

This is very helpful advice. I will go back and redo the forests at the bottom of each map.

Inspired by Ralf's tutorial a few weeks ago, where he combined the latest Hive symbols to create a sprawling Hive Metropolis, I wanted to also create a big city combining unwalled settlements into one big city. I decided, though, that I wanted to focus on the elven symbols, but as I was mucking about, I then decided to add an antagonist: the Dark Empire.

This was all just for fun, without a specific goal in mind. I find that mapping is a good way to clear my head. Maybe it's because it's simultaneously exercising the left and right sides of my brain, as I am creating a work of art but also having to do some analytical stuff with ordering sheets and working out effects.

Version 1: 4x5 Ratio

This first version uses a 1000x800 map, though symbols get resized so it's really just a 4x5 ratio.

It ended up being a little too zoomed out a little too much, but it did allow me to include some human, dwarven, orc, and magical plant communities. I ended up putting an ocean behind the land (but above the sky, which is the Background) and then using the Color Key Cutout effect to create lakes and rivers. I wanted the lake and river colors to more closely resemble the colors of the water in the waterfall symbols.

I will also put this, and some zooms of it, in my galleries so you can get a closer look.

Version 2: 5x7 Ratio

This one used a 500x700 map in order to get a 5x7 ratio, a good size for printing notecards. Here I tried to make the symbols bigger to have a more close-up look. With the elves, I also used some of Mike Schley's SS6 isometric city symbols.

Maybe I will add in some clouds to add a bit more to the skyline.