I've had a lot of questions about my pbp maps, and there are other folks in here who I'm sure have had the same. So here's a thread for answering questions, posting useful tricks and advice, or post links to your maps or templates.
Because we're using different programs, maybe we should head all of our posts with the program we are using or wanting to discuss, or the file types our post applies to.
RE: Making grids or hexes the fast way.
File: PDF.
Photoshop and Illustrator can make grids but making hexes is a nuisance. My advice is go to Incompetech and let them make one for you in PDF format and then import it into Photoshop, Illustrator, or GIMP.
I've tried a couple of other methods but this has by far been the fastest.
I've been using Illustrator because it's proven (for me) to be the fastest way of managing layers and group effects. During combat, it takes me about a minute to open, edit, and export a jpg - than another minute to post to Photobucket which looks to me to be about the fastest and most reliable place to post your maps.
The top of ‘Dead God’s Temple’
RE: Orientation
It didn't take me long to figure out that landscape orientation is desirable because that's just how they make monitors. Photobucket resizes everything to 1024 x 768, so you might as well have as much of your map showing as possible, or all of it.
RE: Line weight for grids.
Make you line weights heavy because a fine line will look like crap when it's resized later. To keep them from being distracting just make them translucent.
RE: Counters
Resize them first, it keeps down the file size of the battlemaps and they look better when they're small if they were resized first. In particular, things like the legs on the ants (map is above) just disappeared when I imported them in a hi res format. Once they were resized they looked great on the map.
Also, silhouettes look much better than pictures with background.
When I import counters I just open them then cut and paste them into the map I've made on a top layer. In Illustrator I keep all my counters on one group layer allowing me to add effects to them as a group. This way they don't dropshadow onto each other.
RE: Removing backround for counters, Photoshop
Lasso the car edge (don't need to do this if the backround is all white and the car isn't). Lasso has several modes, if your object has straight edges use the polygonal mode.
Invert you lasso selection so that the OUTSide of the lasso is selected...invert is in one of the drop downs on the menu bar.
Magic eraser out the background.
No you have a shape with no background.
BLAM! Found you!
I think some of the links are deleted now...
RE: Orientation
It didn't take me long to figure out that landscape orientation is desirable because that's just how they make monitors. Photobucket resizes everything to 1024 x 768, so you might as well have as much of your map showing as possible, or all of it.
Photobucket can load 1 MB pix. I just didn't know that when I originally wrote my post.
So I guess the advice would be: check the drop down options wherever it is that you are posting your pbp maps.
Yah, I'm talkin' to myself.
Yah, I'm talkin' to myself.
~laughter~
I also only discovered the 1MB upload thingy for Photobucket th eother day. I still can't get my head round Inkscape (3rd party equiv of Illustrator) but I can sketch a map by hand pdq and scan it in and add the counters in GIMP. Works well for me.
I'm finding this very helpful. Thanks.