- Start with a reference image
- Create a new layer in Photoshop (Paint Shop Pro, Gimp, etc. will work as well)
- Outline the polygons using 1-pixel dots
- In ImageReady (or any image mapping tool) use the polygon image map tool and create the polygons by connecting the dots
- Preview the image when complete, and copy the polygon coordinates to your .luxb file.
Making Detailed Polygons
Making Detailed Polygons
I've been asked a few times on how I make detailed polygons for maps, so here is a quick overview:
- paranoiarodeo
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Or ... you can use Adobe Illustrator to draw polygons over an image ... and carefully strip the coordinate data from the resulting PDFs ... lock to a single pixel grid ... or not ... if you don't mind running your numbers through Excel and ( TRUNCATING / ROUNDING ) decimals along the way ...
I streamlined the process through a weekend of trial and error ... kludgy little spreadsheet even concatenates each country's coordinates into an XML ready string ...
∞ paranoiarodeo pats himself on the back ∞
Three or four of my beta maps are lounging oceanside with Bar's ... sipping cold beers and peeking under the grass skirts of exotic drink girls ... they occasionally send postcards, rarely call and never visit ... I'm thinking of abandoning the RAW rat race and joining them in paradise ... ah ... wouldn't that be swell ... !
I streamlined the process through a weekend of trial and error ... kludgy little spreadsheet even concatenates each country's coordinates into an XML ready string ...
∞ paranoiarodeo pats himself on the back ∞
Three or four of my beta maps are lounging oceanside with Bar's ... sipping cold beers and peeking under the grass skirts of exotic drink girls ... they occasionally send postcards, rarely call and never visit ... I'm thinking of abandoning the RAW rat race and joining them in paradise ... ah ... wouldn't that be swell ... !
I looked into that method a few months ago, Para, but was never able to make it efficient.
I actually stumbled across a perl script written by cyanshade that will convert the html output of ImageReady to a lux map. (See http://sillysoft.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=822 for more details.)
Boy did THAT ever make my life easier!
I actually stumbled across a perl script written by cyanshade that will convert the html output of ImageReady to a lux map. (See http://sillysoft.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=822 for more details.)
Boy did THAT ever make my life easier!
- Ricklionhart
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you can also find a picture of what you want on the internet, place it behind where you want the country to go and alternate between the map editor and the internet browser following the border of the internet picture with your mouse, changing to the editor, then clicking. this has worked really nicely in my making of the Oklahoma, Delaware, and Vermont maps (not yet published)
- enjoymoreradio
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Re: Making Detailed Polygons
how do you copy the polygon coordinates to your .luxb file?SunTzu wrote:I've been asked a few times on how I make detailed polygons for maps, so here is a quick overview:
- Start with a reference image
- Create a new layer in Photoshop (Paint Shop Pro, Gimp, etc. will work as well)
- Outline the polygons using 1-pixel dots
- In ImageReady (or any image mapping tool) use the polygon image map tool and create the polygons by connecting the dots
- Preview the image when complete, and copy the polygon coordinates to your .luxb file.
Re: Making Detailed Polygons
Hard Way:navyboysaipan wrote:how do you copy the polygon coordinates to your .luxb file?
- Create a new .luxb file from scratch in a text editor, with the <continent>, <country>, and <polygon> tags all set up correctly
- In ImageReady, make sure the image is upside down
- Go to File > Preview In > choose your browser
- For each <area shape="poly" on the html page, copy the coordinates found in coords="" and put them in your .luxb file in the appropriate <polygon> tag
- Open the .luxb file in the Lux map editor to finish editing the map
- Download and install Perl onto your computer (You may already have it if you have a Mac)
- Put the html2lux.pl file in your Perl directory
- Use a text editor to read the comments in html2lux.pl and find out how to set the html settings in ImageReady
- In ImageReady, make sure the image is right-side up
- Put the name of each country polygon in its polygon Alt tag
- Go to File > Preview In > choose your browser
- In your browser, save the html file to your Perl directory
- In a command line, go to your Perl directory and type "perl html2lux your_test_map.html > test_map.luxb"
- All of the polygons are now in the .luxb file, but they're in one continent, so you need to edit the .luxb file in a text editor
- Create the new <continent> tags you want and move the <country> tags to their correct <continent> tags
- Open up the map in the Lux map editor to finish the map
- Weed Acct 33
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download and extract the file from the rar archive
http://www.hotlinkfiles.com/files/16659 ... ml2lux.rar
thanks to SunTzu for giving me the file a few months back.
http://www.hotlinkfiles.com/files/16659 ... ml2lux.rar
thanks to SunTzu for giving me the file a few months back.
- Weed Acct 33
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- Weed Acct 33
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More questions!
I'm winging this whole thing, since I have no prior experience with Photoshop or ImageReady.
Do I even need Photoshop, or can the whole thing be done in ImageReady?
When I am in Photoshop, you say to create a new layer. I opened the picture, went to the Layer menu, everything is grayed, and it won't let me make said layer. Why?
How do I run the cyanshade's perl script?
Also, will ImageReady CS2 work with Photoshop CS3 (because that's the one I have, and I have yet to get ImageReady at all).
Thanks in advance!
I'm winging this whole thing, since I have no prior experience with Photoshop or ImageReady.
Do I even need Photoshop, or can the whole thing be done in ImageReady?
When I am in Photoshop, you say to create a new layer. I opened the picture, went to the Layer menu, everything is grayed, and it won't let me make said layer. Why?
How do I run the cyanshade's perl script?
Also, will ImageReady CS2 work with Photoshop CS3 (because that's the one I have, and I have yet to get ImageReady at all).
Thanks in advance!
Create your file in photoshop (CS2 or CS3) and save it in png format.
make sure only the overground layer is visible.
After that open in imageready and use the magic wand to select all the areas that are going to be your countries. In the Magic wand properties choose "add to selection" button so in the end all the countries are selected simultaneously. At that point you just have to save the shapes and then export them to html format.
Then you use the perl file and after it creates a lux xml map
you just have to open the reg Lux editor and create new continents.
As to how to use the perl file, basic instructions can be found at this post by cyanshade
make sure only the overground layer is visible.
After that open in imageready and use the magic wand to select all the areas that are going to be your countries. In the Magic wand properties choose "add to selection" button so in the end all the countries are selected simultaneously. At that point you just have to save the shapes and then export them to html format.
Then you use the perl file and after it creates a lux xml map
you just have to open the reg Lux editor and create new continents.
As to how to use the perl file, basic instructions can be found at this post by cyanshade
- Weed Acct 33
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Overground is the image that will be placed over the countries.
in the end you will have
background.jpeg
foreground.png (if you want to have one)
overground.png
What program are you using for the layers?
Use Photoshop to create the pictures (overground) and layers and save as..... png
In theory you don't even need to create layers at all.
just make sure your overground is transparent and saved as png.
a really nice guide to learn how to use photoshop is Pixel Perfect It has very informative video clips
Has all kinds of cool stuff you can make. I would start with lesson one and go one a few episodes. eventually when you learn to make some of the stuff you can skip to the things you are mostly interested in.
in the end you will have
background.jpeg
foreground.png (if you want to have one)
overground.png
What program are you using for the layers?
Use Photoshop to create the pictures (overground) and layers and save as..... png
In theory you don't even need to create layers at all.
just make sure your overground is transparent and saved as png.
a really nice guide to learn how to use photoshop is Pixel Perfect It has very informative video clips
Has all kinds of cool stuff you can make. I would start with lesson one and go one a few episodes. eventually when you learn to make some of the stuff you can skip to the things you are mostly interested in.
- Weed Acct 33
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ok i see why that happens
layers are locked when a file is open in gif format
usually it's fine if you open a jpeg bmp png or whatever else.
just do this
open the gif
select on the right the one layer that does exist (default or index layer)
press : ctrl + A
then : ctrl + N
click ok
you should see a new clear window open up (white background most likely)
press : ctrl + V
and the image that was on the gif should appear.
if you look at the right where layers should be,
you have a white background layer (that is shown locked)
and over it the new layer you just added which is a copy of the pic in your original gif image.
after that you can go and right click the white layer and delete it.
you should be left with the gif layer unlocked that you can edit and add new layers over it.
layers are locked when a file is open in gif format
usually it's fine if you open a jpeg bmp png or whatever else.
just do this
open the gif
select on the right the one layer that does exist (default or index layer)
press : ctrl + A
then : ctrl + N
click ok
you should see a new clear window open up (white background most likely)
press : ctrl + V
and the image that was on the gif should appear.
if you look at the right where layers should be,
you have a white background layer (that is shown locked)
and over it the new layer you just added which is a copy of the pic in your original gif image.
after that you can go and right click the white layer and delete it.
you should be left with the gif layer unlocked that you can edit and add new layers over it.
- Weed Acct 33
- Luxer
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