"downloaded the free GIMP program this Last weekend."
I am a gimp newbie, but here is what I have gleaned.
1- The 2.0 developers Version is nice... The original is buggy too so I can see no reason not to get this one.
2- Save often, it crashes.
3- Open a file (a hassle by itself), everything else can be done as a right-click command.
3a) Right-click on picture, select File > Save As, change save file name to whatever.tga and click save. A little pop-up window will ask you about RLE compression and source lower left, just make sure both are checked and presto!
4- Use layers, at least 1 for the capitals, 1 for the borders and 1 for the picture. Makes it way easier to go back and correct stuff (I just learned this
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Misc tips
When making a map from scratch, complete everything but the capitals. In gimp, select everything and right click Tools > Color tools > Levels. Set output levels to 0 - 254 (0-255 is default). This will completely clear your map of 'false' capitals, but allow you to have pretty-close to white features.
The filters in gimp are loads of fun. Illwinter uses this one for a bunch of their maps: Filters > Artistic > Apply canvas.
(I usually do most of my map work with macromedia fireworks, cause I like their filters too, but I am getting more into gimp as I use it more.)
And thanks for sharing your experiences, I think we are going to see more people making maps who will benefit from it.
Re: Mapping AAR
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