# Mapmaking Discussion & Philosophy (WIP/Critique) > Pen and Paper / Traditional Methods >  Wind Realms

## Simkin

Hi all, I'm so fashioned by the old sea maps that I wanna try to do one. As DM, a few years ago, I created a campaign in an archipelago far from all continents, with a culture like the polinesians, so I will reproduce the Wind Realms, a group of tropical islands politically fragmented.
In the middle of the archipelago ther's a secretive island, home of the powerful Travelers' Guild, a group of mages that discovered a powerfull artifact in the place. 

No more words... 
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Bye

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## Simkin

So that's my last version of the map. On the right there are 4 of the 8 diamonds that will show some interesting points of the archipelago. 

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## Simkin

Hi all, I have a problem with Gimp. I,'m trying to insert in the main map some little details that I paint at a bigger scale, but when I put it in the bigger map, the resolution of the datail worst a lot... look



that's the detail before I copy in the bigger image.

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and that's after I copy it. Why do I loose so much res? anyone could help me? I already did something like that in the previous map, but I did not have the same problem.

Ty in advance

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## Bindusara

I found this on reddit : 
Make sure that the "Feather edges" option of the lasso tool is not checked. "Antialising" has a similar effect (but it'(e really there to give you smooth, un-pixellated edges).

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## Simkin

Thanks Bindusara, I will see if this works.

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## Simkin

After a hard time learning how to do some basic stuff in Gimp, that is the result.

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Suggestions opinions and criticisism are welcome.

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## Tiana

Try out the layer blend mode 'multiply' on your texture over top of the assets, or, set the assets to 'multply' to make them blend into the texture, unless having them stand out is your goal. However, I think that because you're new you might not have known about this kind of blending mode yet. Also, for an element that's supposed to be black ink only, to get your scanned lineart to have that crispness back to it, adjust the curves or levels (I don't know which it is in Gimp), this will let you make the blacks blacker and the whites whiter instead of retinting the entire luminescence spectrum.

It is a very cool start on a map.  :Smile:  The border's neat, very innovative.

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## Simkin

After a long time, I finished this map.... I hadn't time to study GIMP (but I promise that I've downloaded all sort of tutorials and books that I found), so the final result is obviously unprofessional. 

BTW thanks Tiana for the help (I have to admit that 80% of the technical terms u used I didn't understand...  :Razz: ).

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As always, suggestions and observations are always welcome

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## Swinford

I really like the Polynesian/pacific island theme. There is a nice poetry to your map - it looks a bit like a star or sky chart, which is appropriate for a place called the Wind Realms. And all the border decoration is really imaginative and gives it a unique fantasy look. You could try making the gold navigational lines a bit less dominant - at the moment they take over the whole map and distract from some of the detail. Maybe try making the lines more transparent and paler? I'd love to explore this archipelago though, so many stories and legends just on this map alone.

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## Simkin

Thank you Swinford. For the lines, at the beginning of the process I did not think in a coloured version, so the yellow lines on white background were not so "noises". After I digitalized them, they go in the same layer of the islands.. so to made them thinner I have to separate them and put on new layer... maybe I will do it in a future.

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