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The answer to this partly depends on if you're looking for a field application or office application. If you are doing field geology I'd recommend using Arcpad. Unlike other miserable ESRI products it isn't very expensive and is reasonably user friendly. You can even use it for basic construction of any digital geologic map, complete with attributed data, etc., and then export the data to a GIS program. Of course that probably means the cursed ArcGIS but if you can't afford it, or aren't used to using it with all it convoluted bells and whistles (e.g. 4 deep menus just to change the symbols for a fold axis) there is a freewave GIS program out there that can read shapefiles generated in arcpad. We've had students using the program Quantum GIS (http://www.qgis.org/) and they prefer it to cursed ESRI software. I haven't used it myself, but I think you can set up things in Quantum GIS and export the map to other software like Adobe Illustrator to make it look nice. I do that all the time with ArcGIS too. I find it much easier to make a finished product in illustrator (or whatever your favorite drawing program is), but I'm sure not everyone agrees. Terry Pavlis Univ. Texas at El Paso -----Original Message----- From: Tectonics & structural geology discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Toshihiko Shimamoto Sent: Wednesday, April 06, 2011 12:27 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Good softwares for drawing geological maps and outcrop/texture sketches? (Toshi Shimamoto) Dear list subscribers 6 April 2011 This is Toshi Shimamoto, now from Beijing. Would anyone give me information on softwares useful for drawing geological maps and outcrop/texture sketches? Not super-expensive, easy to use and above all having many good patterns in black and white suitable for showing formation, strata or any units you want to classify. I am involved with drilling into Longmenshan fault system that caused the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. Please note that my new e-mail address and affiliation is given below. I retired from Hiroshima University one year ago and am now enjoying a new research opportunity in Beijing with a new low to high-velocity machine (plate to seismic velocities!). (Sorry for sending personal messages). Best regards, Toshi (My new e-mail address is given at the end.) Toshihiko Shimamoto State Key Laboratory of Earthquake Dynamics Institute of Geology China Earthquake Administration P. O. Box 9803 Beijing 100029, China E-mail: [log in to unmask]