# Mapping Resources > How Do I ??? >  How would you make an Age of Exploration-style map with GIMP?

## Iestwyn

I recently made this post about beautifying some maps I've made. You can see landmasses, elevation, water features, and climates here. People were incredibly helpful, and I've got a much more specific and workable question now.

Some work by Tiana that she posted on my thread got me settled on a style that I think would look nice. There are some fantastic maps out there like Europa by Mercator and Typus Orbis Terrarum by Ortelius. They're a bit cluttered, of course, but the overall color scheme and presentation is lovely.

So how would you go about making a map like this with GIMP? How would you improve on them? For example, they all had way too many labels in them to be usable by modern audiences. Most people would also like more information than just mountains and rivers: color changes for differences in biomes, for example. In general, what would be your process?

I hope this was a good question, and thank you for your time!

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