What are the best map-making programs for world builders? There are 5 really awesome resources and tools world builders can use for map-making along with their pros and cons.

1. The library of congress map collection
2. Inkarnate
3. Adobe Photoshop
4. Gimp
5. Adobe Illustrator or Inkscape

This article is a quick rundown of different map making tools you can use for your world building efforts. Map drawing can be a lot of fun and serve many purposes. Whether you’re building a map for Dungeons and Dragons, for general world building, a story you’re working on or simply escaping into your own world, these tools will help inspire and let your creativity flow.

Library of Congress Map Collection to Inspire Your Map Drawing

The Library of Congress’s online map collection is by far the absolute best resource we’ve found so far. Bookmark this link.

Not only has the LOC curated numerous historical maps, they are very high resolution. You can enlarge these maps seeing the detail and craftsmanship of the cartographer. And actually, not every map here was produced by a map maker. Some high quality maps were drafted by captains, surveyors and citizens.

This gallery view below shows the incredible scaling abilities of the Library of Congress’s collection. The initial thumbnail gives you some perspective about the map, but when you open it up and start zooming in, you can see real detail.

These maps also give you a multidimensional perspective into the versatility of a map’s purpose. Yes, there are general maps showing countries, continents, roads, etc. But if you really start exploring the LOC’s map collection, what you’ll find are surveys, city plans, battle maps…

Oh the battle maps are incredible! These maps show where forces are based, strategies, shallow areas of rivers, obstacles, types of boats. Again, multidimensional perspective. If you’re looking for some world building inspiration here, spend some time on the Library of Congress’s map collection.

The Library of Congress’s map collection is so good, it deserves it’s own article, where we tour some of our favorite maps, including battle maps, land surveys, grants, and more. Check it out and get inspired!

Inkarnate Map Making Platform

Inkarnate is one of the most popular map making platforms out there. It’s that program where, when someone new to world building asks about how to make a map, everyone says Inkarnate.

There are so many reasons to fall in love with this program. First, you don’t have to be an artist to use it. Second, you get beautiful old style maps. Thrid, there is so much customizability.

Another great perk to Inkarnate is that there is a free plan. And the free plan on its own is excellent. However, their first tier paid plan is not too expensive, especially for the features you get. For only $25 a year, you can upload your own assets, export up to 8K and, if you’re building maps for your own website, needing commercial use, this paid plan has you covered.

If $25 feels expensive, just remember, it’s the price of 2 large pizzas, and that’s only once a year.

Finally, after exploring Inkarnate deeper, their developers fully understand the multiple purposes maps hold. This platform not only lets you build worldmaps and regional maps, but it also lets you create battle maps, village and city maps, and interior maps.

Just as the Library of Congress maps deserve their own article, Inkarnate also does.

Create Maps with Photoshop

If you have the funds, Photoshop is a great tool for map making. Actually, it’s altogether a great tool for world builders because of its editing capabilities. But for now, we’re just going to focus on the map creation side of things.

Basically, if Inkarnate is not tailored enough for you, or you just want to create your own distinctive looking maps, Photoshop might be the best tool to use, well aside from good old hand-drawn maps.

With Photoshop, you can use different textures, customize paint brushes, have full control of color, settings, layers, style, etc.

Let’s just talk about the custom brushes for a moment. If you have a few different castle styles that are your own, perhaps drawn, you can create a custom paint brush, and stamp them in for easy placement. Using hot keys, you can also quickly adjust the size of those castles. The same goes for houses, farms, etc.

The layering capabilities of Photoshop means you can experiment with topography and climate. You can even export different versions of your map by turning on and off certain layers.

For example, if you were chronicling the evolution of your world over centuries of conquest and war, you can use different layers to show different borders throughout the years.

Photoshop does have its downsides. First, you’ll have to pay for it. You can find pricing information here. And if you wanted to start bundling some of Adobe’s other programs, which might be worth it in the long-run, you’re better off paying for the full Adobe Cloud access.

The next challenge with Photoshop is that it’s not easy to use. Not at first anyway. However, there are so many tutorials out there to walk you through certain things. Plus, learning Photoshop skills is never a bad thing because those skills are universal.

Gimp – Free Tool for Map Making

If you’re just not ready to pay up for Photoshop but like the idea of having full digital control over your map making, check out Gimp.

Like Photoshop, Gimp is a photo editing and graphic design tool. And the best part is that it’s free to download.

Because it’s similar to Photoshop, we won’t go into what Gimp offers. Instead, we might caution you. There is a reason it’s free. Oh, it works just fine. However, it’s not as intuitive as Photoshop. And because it’s not the graphic design go-to, there are far fewer tutorials out there.

Despite the learning curve, Gimp is pretty robust.

Vector Programs to Support Your Map Making

Vector programs such as Adobe Illustrator or Inkscape (free) are great platforms to support your world building maps. These programs aren’t ideal for drawing a whole map, but they are excellent for line art. That means, when you want real crisp borders, nice sinuous rivers, bridges, or even map assets like castles, forts, canon markers, compasses, etc., vector programs are a good tool.

We recommend you use this in combination with a program like Photoshop since Photoshop isn’t going to be as good with lines and it can’t produce vectorized graphics.

If you’re trying to decide between Illustrator or Inkscape – well here’s our thoughts.

Toy around with Inkscape first. It’s free to download. What you may find is that just like Gimp (free), it’s not as intuitive as Illustrator. The other pitfall, just like Gimp, is that there’s fewer tutorials about how to use the program. Once you get frustrated enough, you might determine that Illustrator is worth the extra funds.

Don’t think Illustrator is going to be super easy to use. It takes time and patience. We recommend getting familiar with the basic toolbar first, understanding how it works and what these tools are capable of. Then start building your map’s assets, doing tutorials as you go.

Remember, there’s a benefit to learning how to use Illustrator. Just like Photoshop, having Illustrator experience and skills is a huge bonus. In fact, perhaps if you get good enough, you can get commissioned to draw up other people’s maps.

We hope these resources have been helpful. There are definitely more we could mention. And as we explore other resources, we’ll update the article. If you are offering a new resource or app for map drawing, let us know via our contact page, and we’ll try to feature you.