Conversions are easily accomplished between these two programs, and CC3 has a specific option in the File menu called CC2 to CC3 conversion. The most time consuming part of converting is moving all the elements to the correct sheet (or layers). If the user does not utilize sheets, conversion can be accomplished in three simple clicks.
One of the most noticeable upgrades between CC3 and CC2 Pro is the quality of the graphics and symbols. I immediately noticed more textures for landmasses and large bodies of water. In addition, I found choices for deserts (that I used in my sample), light plants, heavy plants, forests, fens, and even ice. For the few maps I have made with the new program, the choices in fill color and texture have been extremely positive.
A highlight in testing out the new program came when I opened up the selection for symbols. The details of each of the new symbols were excellent, and even better, I was able to scale them to pretty much any size I wanted. I shrank a boat down to be smaller than my sea serpent so that it could have a delicious snack. To plague the residents of my coastal town even more, I created a whirlpool. Then I decided it was too small, so I increased the size using one graphic. CC3 uses enhanced metafiles which are a vector based graphic format that allow manipulation of image size without the loss of quality.
In addition, the graphics can be separated onto various sheets, which were formerly known as layers in CC2 Pro, and viewed separately from other layers. This allows the manipulation of specific sheets without affecting others as well as hiding specific layers to create several versions of a map.
Though CC3 maps can be saved as a .bmp, .jpeg, or .png file, many of the details and functionality of the created maps can be lost by viewing them this way. ProFantasy provides a free printer and viewer program that can be downloaded from their site that allows for users to fully view and utilize the details of created maps without purchasing the software. The viewer itself requires 70 MB of hard drive space.
Maps can also be shared within the Campaign Cartographer community via the Profantasy site. Plenty of free fantasy maps are uploaded daily for other people to download and use. The Map & Catalog Library provides a powerful search tool that allows map enthusiasts to search by genre, file type and keyword. Users can easily find star maps, fantasy maps, and several dungeon maps as well as several new symbols created by different users.