Map Making, the Boomer Way

 So, I was playing some old 1st edition Greyhawk, and checking out this awesome map. Greyhawk with its cool maps and detailed history just made me want to work on my own home-brew world again. So, I started with updating our campaign map. 

Now, I don't use photoshop, never had the motivation to learn it, so I had to go the roundabout way. My goal was to digitize our hand drawn composite map into the computer.

 It was too big to scan, and far to smudgy with sloppy writing, so I needed to trace the whole thing on new paper. So I used my game table, by taking out the insert and using a piece of glass with a desk lamp shining up from below, I had a makeshift ligthboard.

Then I tediously traced the whole thing, everything came out pretty good, except the mountains. 

After getting a clean trace, I folded it at the creases to get it on the scanner. I scanned each piece (9 pieces of paper) into the computer.

Once in the computer, I had to piece it back together into one picture. I used GIMP to reconstruct it, I can also put a hex grid on with GIMP but I choose not to on this one. I used Paint 3D to add color and labels.

Still had to be printed in separate pieces and taped together. I left it in 3 pieces like those old d&d maps.

So, there was probably an easier way to do this, but I worked with what I had/what I knew how to use. It was a fun process, and I'm a analog guy anyway, I like the hands on approach.

And it turned out pretty awesome.

Not sure I would recommend this method, but it worked.