Converting Pen Drawings to Digital Line Drawings

[nygibs]

Hiyas!

I'm trying to figure out how to convert hand-drawn pen drawings to boxes and
lines. For example, I'm drawing maps for an online game. They're very simple
maps that go north, south, east and west. For each 'room', I draw a square.
Then I draw a line from that square going to another square. Sometimes they
have arrows instead of simple lines, and sometimes the boxes are shaded in.
I'd like to use the grid in OneNote to draw the maps 'by hand' using the pen
tool, but then convert them into neat, symetrical boxes using.... what? Can
OneNote do that? Any help would be appreciated. For an example of the kind
of map I'm talking about, see:
http://whitecrossroads.com/images/maps/map45alexandriacoast.GIF

 

[Rainald Taesler]

Although ON 2007 has drawing tools, IMO wanting to do something like
the sample, I would not use ON.
IMO any of the professional graphics programs would be ways more
efficient.

Rainald

 

[Jonathan]

nygibs:
Have you looked at Visio? I have Visio 2002 (there may be lots of
enhancements in succeeding versions) and liked -- for certain projects -- the
organization that is sort of "enforced" in its interface. An example might be
consistent scale of relative map size in your use. Objects you create can be
placed into personal, specific, libraries for your recurring needs. But the
real icing on the cake may be the fact that Visio can manage objects as
database "containers" that have metadata attached. Therefore you can
construct a world for the game and have more than the graphic for further
project management.

I have a tablet and ON2007. I have tried its [way improved] drawing tools
but have no need yet identified for them. They do not seem to offer the
persistent linking some programs offer: an understanding that some objects
are connected and which direction that connection "goes".

(Can anyone correct me if I am wrong here?)

If you are using a tablet you might see if there are new enhancements
specific to inking in Visio. I don't know anything about the progress of
their Visio2007 beta, but it is availabale for download and testing.

Of course, we always offer the same caveat here: don't put any true
production data into a beta. (However, some of us seem to be on that thin ice
ourselves.) OK, no more overwrought metaphors...

Jonathan