I have a new Mac and I don’t know about the Apps I have on it. It’s the basic package I got about three months ago, plus iWork '09. Also I have Image Capture, iPhoto, Photo Booth, and some other stuff I’m pretty sure is irrelevant…
The question, what can I use to modify maps with? I’m talking about downloading maps, changing the colors of regions, moving borders, putting little symbols on them, etc. I really out of it here; for all I know a map could be saved like a photo and only modifiable by “doctoring”. So forgive my ignorance.
I used to like ClarisWorks Draw because you could get the computer to fill a given area with color without having to draw it yourself, so if you had a map of biomes, you could turn all the swamps green (one by one) without having draw the shape of the swamp on top of it. I am coming to the conclusion that iWork Pages doesn’t do this, sadly.
First of all, you need the maps to be created as objects, not as a bitmap. So, the map format is going to be important. Find out what format the maps are in and then report back.
There are a ton of free (or inexpensive) graphic editing tools for the Mac, but if you are going to be working with some wonky format you may need a wonky editor.
If you are going to be editing vector graphic files, not bitmaps, then one free program is Inkscape. Unfortunately, it is an X-Windows application, so you would have to be familiar with how X-windows applications work. (the menus are in a different place than they would be with a “regular” macintosh application, for one thing.)
Another free application that allows editing of vector graphic files is the office suite Open Office, which is a native Macintosh application.
What file formats would these downloaded maps be in?
If you really like Clarisworks (I do), OSX has an “OS 9 compatibility mode” that should run it. I don’t know how to work it, though, since I use a G3 iMac running OS 9, to run Clarisworks on for that sort of stuff.
given that the maps are bitmaps, this is pretty simple. hard to do though.
first thing though-this is not a mac/windows issue. everything happening here happens equally on both platforms.
Your maps are just pictures. You can do the same things to the maps that you can do to your holiday pictures. You shouldn’t think of them as maps, think of them as drawings.
Gimp, while perhaps not the smoothest program out there, will do everything you want to your images. Personnally, I like Graphic Converter, it has evolved to be a good (not photoshop, but good) image editor as well as a converter. It will probably do whatever you need. There are other image manipulation programs out there. And of course Photoshop if you have the $.
Since you are editing bitmap files, you have more options. There are several free programs for the Macintosh. Gimp is pretty powerful, but, like with Inkscape that I mentioned above, you will need to get used to the X Windows interface which is different that a native Macintosh application.
Some other free options (that I haven’t tried):
Paintbrush: http://paintbrush.sourceforge.net/
Pixen: Pixen - OS-WD
Like rbroome, I personally use Graphic Converter and I find it very useful. Another thing in its favour is that the developer has a long history for the Macintosh platform (I forget how many years I have been using it: at least fourteen, probably more) and the developer has been regularly updating it during all those years. The bad thing is that it’s not free, but IMHO it is well worth the money.
Graphic Converter www.lemkesoft.com
There is a fully OSX-native version called AppleWorks (also a bit long in the tooth now but should still run). No longer sold as new software but available if you look around.
While I’m thinking about making this X Interface thing happen for my little compy, I have downloaded something called Seashore which is very reminiscent of old ClarisWorks and AppleWorks draw programs. Tinkering with it a little bit makes me thinking it may suit my needs just fine.
