I used Inkscape for my AH maps for literal years, and from what I've seen on the Map Thread and elsewhere, a lot of you all do too. Inkscape is a great tool. But I have now switched entirely over to QGIS, and I wish I had done it years ago. Here's why you should make the switch too, no matter what your current skill level is:
1. It will save you a LOT of time.
If your workflow is anything like mine was, about half of the time spent making any given map in Inkscape is tracing - especially coastlines and rivers. Another big bulk is spent on borders, and I never used to even bother with lots of cities because of all the time it took. QGIS will instantly remove 95% of this kind of work by letting you add physical features, all OTL political features, and a lot of historical features to the map. All you have to do manually is trace any features you can't find online and get the styling to look how you want it to.
For reference, this map, one of the last ones I made before using any GIS, took me about ~6 hours in total to make. And this is a pretty simple one - there isn't much detail, and I only used one basemap for it. In comparison, this recent Turkestan map - which is much, much more detailed - took about the same amount of time, time saved from not having to manually input nearly any of the features.
This can also make it feasible to do projects which would have been an impossible amount of work before. Can you imagine how long it would have taken me to trace all the streets for this DC map? I would never have even tried to start it before. QGIS made it possible, and now it's one of my favorites of my maps.
2. It will make it easy to add all sorts of details.
The nice thing about GIS technology is that nearly all data you find out there is compatible with everything else. Before QGIS, if I wanted to add elevation, rivers, cities, or anything else to a map I was making, I needed to go and find a basemap, awkwardly stretch it to fit the projection of what I had already traced, and then manually copy all those features over. Now, I just download a file and reproject it at a whim. The best example of this is the land cover colors on my recent Ukraine, Turkestan, and UAE maps. I never even tried to get this sort of effect on my pre-QGIS maps - it would have taken way too much time and effort. Now, it takes less than ten minutes, and I think it makes the maps look much, much better than if they had a colored or blank background.
Similarly, take a look at the yellow urban areas on those three maps. Before, I never would have taken the effort to trace all those tiny little cities. Now, it took literally under five minutes to download the data, get the style looking right, and make some minor tweaks to account for changes in the timeline. IMO, these little details are a big part of what makes AH maps look 'real', and using QGIS makes it worth the time to add them in.
3. You can still just use it for parts of the map until you get comfortable.
I am now making my maps entirely in QGIS, but for a long time I only used it as a timesaver for details. For example, in my Sealion map, I only used QGIS to generate the coastlines, borders, and elevation, and did all the layout in Inkscape. Because QGIS can export to svg, this is a completely valid thing to do which can still save you a lot of effort while you are still getting used to QGIS' features - especially the print layout.
4. It makes it possible for anyone to use your work.
QBAM is popular for a reason - if you see a map with a cool border or effect you like, you can easily download the image and copy over that patch to use in your next map. People put a lot of work into borderpools and river and lake resources because they are universally applicable resources. There isn't much opportunity for this kind of collaboration with vector maps because of the different projections different basemaps use. But because QGIS automatically reprojects resources, you can trace resources from basemaps or create entirely new AH borders, and anyone can use them in a map of any projection. I've posted a couple of resources I've made in my GIS resources thread , and if you trace some interesting historical or AH borders, you can now use them again in the future on a different projection or post them so anyone can use them.
5. It can get you a job.
Making maps is my favorite hobby. Since high school I have spent an honestly unhealthy amount of time on it. Before using QGIS, I really couldn't justify that time as productive. I've used my Inkscape skills a handful of times for school and work projects, but it is a small, niche skill which doesn't count for a whole lot given that graphic design professionals mostly use expensive software like Photoshop.
GIS is different. Many businesses and non-profits use QGIS for day-to-day work, and I can say from experience that QGIS is similar enough to ArcGIS (the paid version used mostly by governments) that the experience is definitely transferable. QGIS proficiency - even if you've only used it for AH maps! - is something you definitely can put on your resume and apply to the working world.
I got into GIS a little too late for me to think about pursuing a career in it, but if you are in high school or early in college - and especially if you are also interested in Python programming - think about this seriously. GIS can give you the opening to turn your hobby into a real, decently-paid career. Given the amount of time we all spend on work in our lives, I think there's not much that's more valuable than finding work you can take real interest and pride in.
---
How do you get started? I first learned GIS software by taking a college class, which I would definitely recommend to anyone who is able to do it - especially if you want to learn about what GIS as a career looks like. That said, there are gobs and gobs of free tutorials for QGIS out there, and although it looks complicated, it isn't that difficult to learn and start doing really cool things with once you get the hang of it. The time you invest will pay off within your first map.
Once you do learn the software, take a look at my GIS resources thread - there are links to just about all the data you could need to get started there.
1. It will save you a LOT of time.
If your workflow is anything like mine was, about half of the time spent making any given map in Inkscape is tracing - especially coastlines and rivers. Another big bulk is spent on borders, and I never used to even bother with lots of cities because of all the time it took. QGIS will instantly remove 95% of this kind of work by letting you add physical features, all OTL political features, and a lot of historical features to the map. All you have to do manually is trace any features you can't find online and get the styling to look how you want it to.
For reference, this map, one of the last ones I made before using any GIS, took me about ~6 hours in total to make. And this is a pretty simple one - there isn't much detail, and I only used one basemap for it. In comparison, this recent Turkestan map - which is much, much more detailed - took about the same amount of time, time saved from not having to manually input nearly any of the features.
This can also make it feasible to do projects which would have been an impossible amount of work before. Can you imagine how long it would have taken me to trace all the streets for this DC map? I would never have even tried to start it before. QGIS made it possible, and now it's one of my favorites of my maps.
2. It will make it easy to add all sorts of details.
The nice thing about GIS technology is that nearly all data you find out there is compatible with everything else. Before QGIS, if I wanted to add elevation, rivers, cities, or anything else to a map I was making, I needed to go and find a basemap, awkwardly stretch it to fit the projection of what I had already traced, and then manually copy all those features over. Now, I just download a file and reproject it at a whim. The best example of this is the land cover colors on my recent Ukraine, Turkestan, and UAE maps. I never even tried to get this sort of effect on my pre-QGIS maps - it would have taken way too much time and effort. Now, it takes less than ten minutes, and I think it makes the maps look much, much better than if they had a colored or blank background.
Similarly, take a look at the yellow urban areas on those three maps. Before, I never would have taken the effort to trace all those tiny little cities. Now, it took literally under five minutes to download the data, get the style looking right, and make some minor tweaks to account for changes in the timeline. IMO, these little details are a big part of what makes AH maps look 'real', and using QGIS makes it worth the time to add them in.
3. You can still just use it for parts of the map until you get comfortable.
I am now making my maps entirely in QGIS, but for a long time I only used it as a timesaver for details. For example, in my Sealion map, I only used QGIS to generate the coastlines, borders, and elevation, and did all the layout in Inkscape. Because QGIS can export to svg, this is a completely valid thing to do which can still save you a lot of effort while you are still getting used to QGIS' features - especially the print layout.
4. It makes it possible for anyone to use your work.
QBAM is popular for a reason - if you see a map with a cool border or effect you like, you can easily download the image and copy over that patch to use in your next map. People put a lot of work into borderpools and river and lake resources because they are universally applicable resources. There isn't much opportunity for this kind of collaboration with vector maps because of the different projections different basemaps use. But because QGIS automatically reprojects resources, you can trace resources from basemaps or create entirely new AH borders, and anyone can use them in a map of any projection. I've posted a couple of resources I've made in my GIS resources thread , and if you trace some interesting historical or AH borders, you can now use them again in the future on a different projection or post them so anyone can use them.
5. It can get you a job.
Making maps is my favorite hobby. Since high school I have spent an honestly unhealthy amount of time on it. Before using QGIS, I really couldn't justify that time as productive. I've used my Inkscape skills a handful of times for school and work projects, but it is a small, niche skill which doesn't count for a whole lot given that graphic design professionals mostly use expensive software like Photoshop.
GIS is different. Many businesses and non-profits use QGIS for day-to-day work, and I can say from experience that QGIS is similar enough to ArcGIS (the paid version used mostly by governments) that the experience is definitely transferable. QGIS proficiency - even if you've only used it for AH maps! - is something you definitely can put on your resume and apply to the working world.
I got into GIS a little too late for me to think about pursuing a career in it, but if you are in high school or early in college - and especially if you are also interested in Python programming - think about this seriously. GIS can give you the opening to turn your hobby into a real, decently-paid career. Given the amount of time we all spend on work in our lives, I think there's not much that's more valuable than finding work you can take real interest and pride in.
---
How do you get started? I first learned GIS software by taking a college class, which I would definitely recommend to anyone who is able to do it - especially if you want to learn about what GIS as a career looks like. That said, there are gobs and gobs of free tutorials for QGIS out there, and although it looks complicated, it isn't that difficult to learn and start doing really cool things with once you get the hang of it. The time you invest will pay off within your first map.
Once you do learn the software, take a look at my GIS resources thread - there are links to just about all the data you could need to get started there.
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