How to Make Place Names Easier to Read On Your Map
After hours of working on your fantasy map, you’re nearly done! The only thing left to do is add the place names…easy enough right? Until you add a couple and realize how difficult they are to read! But the question is, do you need to start over or is there something you can do about it? If you are working digitally with something like Procreate or Photoshop, there are a few simple tricks to fix this issue. But, if you happen to be using traditional tools, these principles will still be applicable; you will just have to plan ahead for it rather than trying to fix it after the fact.
The Overlap Issue
A common problem when adding place names is they often overlap other features. This can happen with a river, which you can see in the example. But, it also comes up when you try to add a title to something like a mountain range or a forest. As you can see, this can make it very challenging to read.
The good news is, there’s a very simple solution!
Erasing to Fix the Overlap
The easiest solution is to erase away any line art that is behind or slightly around each place name on your map. It is now much easier to read the name of the city.
The eye is good at filling in the information, so even though there is now a break in the line of the river, it is subtle enough that the viewer will fill this space in without even thinking about it. Pretty interesting how the brain works!
What if You’re Using Pen & Paper?
With traditional tools, you have to be a lot more forward-thinking because the tools aren’t as forgiving. But, the principle of providing space around a title remains the same regardless of the medium. Some traditional cartographers will actually do the titles on their map first. Others prefer to sketch boxes where the place names will be to remind themselves not to ink in those areas. Whatever solution you prefer, just make sure you plan ahead!
Bonus Tip!
If you are able, there is another thing you can do to make it even easier on whoever is looking at your map. Try to align the title so the river or coastline only passes through one letter. Sometimes, this isn’t possible with certain names or titles. But if the opportunity presents itself then it’s another subtle way to make everything much easier to read.
I hope you found this little Map Tip helpful and it aids you in your map-making journey. If you want to support Map Effects and help other map makers be sure to share this with someone who will find it helpful and pin it to save for later. Be sure to check out the Learning Section for More Cartography Tutorials and Tips!
Happy Mapping!
Josh
