One of the most popular guides for drawing maps in Adobe Illustrator are a set of screen capture videos created by Brandon Kowallis. These videos on YouTube are shown below. Please subscribe to his channel and like his videos if you find them useful!

Introduction Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDSXTW2_52A

Lesson 1: How to Sketch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvsgeCVhMMI

Lesson 2: Setting Up Compass https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPE_LbjyTig

Lesson 3: Entering Survey Data in Compass https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcBhGleoBUo

Lesson 4: Finding and Fixing Errors… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLdBK0RszEU

Lesson 5: Visualizing your Cave Data https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04fS-YOSg_U

Lesson 6: Exporting a Compass SVG… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULP_wg9voT4

Lesson 7: Adobe Illustrator File Setup https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eIwo4OeLoU

Lesson 8: Importing…SVG to Illustrator https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27I320sV4CY

Lesson 9: Importing Sketches to Illustrator https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMaAxz2KWiE

Lesson 10: Adding Baseline Map Elements https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RcQc2PZ4nw

Lesson 11: Streamlining with Symbols/Brushes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9q13bnGPB_0

Lesson 12: Drawing Walls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO1W_PgWlJ0

Lesson 13: Adding Detail to your Cave https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmFjyCdEJlE

Lesson 14: Finishing Touches https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b62PB4yvSLY


Derek Bristol also has some informative videos on YouTube, and of course, follow and like the videos if you find them useful!

TopoDroid: Survey Data Functions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dJVP-A52NY

TopoDroid: DistoX Functions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhQj18n6oFY

TopoDroid: Sketching https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MviItVhmFWk&list=PLxgxDxSeVuvuDXMflLV7nOYdPFroOcATV&index=14


Below is the link to the PDF of the Underwater Sketching Class given to Karst Underwater Research (KUR) in 2024 at Cave Adventurers. Of course the slide deck is only the beginning of class. If you wish to attend a class, they are free, but infrequent (once a year, typically.)

2024 Underwater Sketching Class (KUR)

The next link is to the Intro to Sketching Class held at the 2024 NSS Convention in Sewannee, TN. If you wish to learn more- sign up for the Sketching Class at the 2025 NSS Convention in Cobleskill, NY.


2024 Introduction to Sketching Paper and Topodroid