Just got my first flip mat and it seems cool but the creases from folding it are preventing it from laying as flat as I would like. Any ideas?
I back fold all of mine and then lay them flat overnight. That does the trick. By back fold, I mean fold against the folds instead of with them. Make sure you fold against all of them, though, as you'll get bumps if you don't. Lastly, I keep all of my flip mats out and flat when I'm storing them and only fold them for transport. That helps keep them nice and flat for my game sessions.
Additionally, you can flatten them by placing heavy books on the folds (Pathfinder Core and Bestiary are ideal for this). Like Joshua, I try to keep mine unfolded for storage purposes (under the bed is a good place). If you have quite a collection of flip-mats, laying them flat and stacking them can also reduce/eliminate creases.
CEO
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One of the things I have done is buy an artists portfolio carrier. They are meant to allow an artist to carry full-sized paintings to work, or an interview or whatever. However, they also work brilliantly for holding unfolded flip mats. The one I am using is pretty close to this one at amazon.com. All mine are stashed in there and I have plenty of room for more! Highly recommended!
-Lisa
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One of the things I have done is buy an artists portfolio carrier. They are meant to allow an artist to carry full-sized paintings to work, or an interview or whatever. However, they also work brilliantly for holding unfolded flip mats. The one I am using is pretty close to this one at amazon.com. All mine are stashed in there and I have plenty of room for more! Highly recommended!
-Lisa
Hmm, this is a really good idea. I use a lot of other home made maps and stuff this would work with. I've been folding and unfolding mine and the work alright but they are a touch lumpy. They would go even flatter over time this way.
If you are cheap like me they have a nylon one for less. I also found another one for $13, about $20 shipped.
Wow guys thanks for all the great ideas! I'll try them out and let you know how they work.
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I also bought an Art Portfolio from a craft store. It holds all of my flip mats in the center, home made maps in the side pocket, and tiles in an interior pocket. It works very well. Once I open the flip mats, I bend them to lie flat, put them on a table buried in old 3.5 books whose only purpose now is to smash flip mats flat, and then I toss it in the portfolio, never to be folder again.
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Additionally, you can flatten them by placing heavy books on the folds (Pathfinder Core and Bestiary are ideal for this). Like Joshua, I try to keep mine unfolded for storage purposes (under the bed is a good place). If you have quite a collection of flip-mats, laying them flat and stacking them can also reduce/eliminate creases.
+1
We store ours in the Guest bedroom, inbetween the mattress and the bed frame. They're nice and flat no matter what by the time we play!
Thanks for all the advise guys. The flip mat worked great for our game this weekend and I highly recommend it. I know this will be my first of many.
Or when certain guests come over, are bent all over the place...+1
We store ours in the Guest bedroom, inbetween the mattress and the bed frame. They're nice and flat no matter what by the time we play!
Damn gamers.
That is what you meant, I'm sure :)
Another idea, is to go to the post office (or office supply place) and buy one of those tubes they use to ship or hold Blueprints and the like.
They will hold your stuff without folding it, though you may need a slight paper weight for the corners to offset the slight bend they tend to pickup from the tube.
They Do come out uncreased and unwrinkled though.
Just a thought.
-S
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Piece of plexiglass on the game table works great too.
Just place map beneath and no wrinkles or fold lines.
While this works, this really defeats the benefits of the flip mat though.
I'd rather use a sheet of no-frills gaming paper under the Plexiglas, and use my awesome flip mat for short encounters or when I'm GMing somewhere other than my home. Never having to worry about somebody accidentally leaving dry erase on your wet-only board, or vice versa (or even the dreaded Sharpie which still wipes off of that thing) is why I'd prefer to use it as-is.
On the "flip-side" I'd be interested in more of these if they did not have the creases.
Lisa/Erik/Paizo person X - has there been any thought given to selling these in some non-folded manner - like in a poster tube (rolled up)??
I've actually not bought any of these yet because I dislike the creases so much. I've seen others try all sorts of things to remove/reduce them, all to very limited success.
I get the value of being able to fold and travel with them, but for some purposes (like home games, for things that I'd rather not always draw out like a ship or tavern) I'd love to be able to buy some that have never been folded.
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I have been buying these since the beginning and have used them over and over again. I try to keep them unfolded between two pieces of foamboard and then clipped together with large, hinged paper clips. But I keep the Inn and ship ones folded and in my backpack since we tend to use those often. A few pieces of painter's tape keeps them flat when we play.
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Contributor
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My group tried an experiment with the "basic" flip mat of carefully cutting it into "sheets". That sort of thing wouldn't work with any of the flip-mats with artwork (not if you wanted them to look really nice, anyway), but for a group which for a long time had fairly oddly-shaped surfaces to play on, having that versatility and still being able to draw on the mat, was helpful.
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Our Group has about a dozen flip-maps. I keep them unfolded inside a pair of 36" x 48" display boards (6 each) along with all our KingMaker maps. I just use 4 of those garbage can size bands to hold it all together corner to corner each side. They look great, like they've never been folded.