In this week's Live Mapping session Ralf will be doing something a little different. Please come along and join in with us as we watch Ralf make a Sci-fi Diorama using the Dioramas add-on.

If you wish to book a reminder click the link above hit the reminder button on the YouTube page.

We look forward to seeing you there :)

Hi Everyone :)

I was discussing various ideas with another member of the team when the subject of banners came up - how we don't seem to have very many.

I decided to make some for us.

As you know, there are many different types of banner and many different styles. I won't smother you here with lots of examples that are not my own work, but I've made a start with the biggest ones - the title banners. Shown here as a screen shot of the work in Affinity Designer (like PS Illustrator but not as expensive). I would be interested to know what you think.

The file here is representative of the standard 1000 x 800 map unit template, so this is the size the banners will appear to be in a standard overland map.

I decided to work a bit on the coastline effects. I wanted to do a bevel, but at the same time leave myself (and eventually others) free to make coastlines as jagged as I want without the risk of those corner artefacts you sometimes get if you get a bit too ambitious with the Bevel. So instead of using the Bevel effect I put the water on top of the land like it would be in a city map, and added a pale glow and a dark directional shadow.

What do you think?

That's fine, Jim - just because I offer a potential solution doesn't mean it's the right one for you. There are always many different ways of creating something in a map, and I prefer what you've done anyway :)

As for the compass... I only know what I learned from the same video you watched, so I can't help you with that one. Sorry!

Would something like this help?