How to Measure Distance on Curving Paths
How much time will it take for your characters to travel the wandering path they’re on? Well, how long is it? Not sure? In this Map Tip you'll learn a simple trick to quickly determine distance on even the most crooked paths.
How Far Is It?
It’s one thing to measure a straight line from A to B, “As the Nazgul flies.” But what about a path that wanders through the terrain as the Hobbit walks?
Fortunately, there’s a simple trick you can use.
Start With Scale
The first thing you need to do is determine the scale of your existing map, and how far it would be from A to B if they were on a straight line.
To keep things simple for this example, I am going to say one rectangle will be equal to 5 miles. This will differ from map to map so adjust according
If you need help determining size and scale on your map, CLICK HERE to check out a blog I put together that you may find helpful.
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Want the brushes I am using for this Map Tip? The Cartographer’s Liner Brush Field Kit contains 21x unique liner brushes designed to give an analog quality to your digital work.
Select a Brush
Bring your map into Procreate, Photoshop, or a free app like Gimp or Krita. Then select a basic hard round brush.
Stick with Me Traditional Artists!
This technique will still work on your map. Scan it to your computer or even just take a picture with your phone. Just make sure you have the scale included for a reference!
Edit the Brush
Go into the Brush Settings panel on your app, and change the “Spacing” until the brush paints individual dots. Now adjust the spacing until it fits that scale that works for your map.
For this example I will make it so each dot will represent 1 mile.
Use It On Your Map
You can now trace the path you want to measure with your brush and count the dots to determine how many miles the path is on your map.
It looks like our path for this map is 50 miles long, if you include the first initial dot. That’s all there is to it!
I hope you found this little Map Tip helpful in your journey to map your story. 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!
Happy Mapping!
- Josh
