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I'm having a difficult time printing out rooms from various maps so that they are on 1-inch grids. I don't like taking the time to draw during the game so I want to just print out the room the characters are in and have it already set up with 1-inch grids.
I've managed to select the portion of the maps that I want to use. I can put it into MS Paint, but I can't seem to get it to be the right size. Anyone have any skills I can tap into for this?
Thanks for any help you can provide.
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A trick I learned from someone a couple years back who printed out maps for PFS scenarios to use at cons was to copy/extract the map into Excel. Then Insert Shape of a 1" square and expand the map until the inserted square shape fits into a square on the grid. Then you know the map grid squares are 1".
I'd second the recommendation of a proper image editing program such as The Gimp or Photoshop. They'll have the ability for you to resize your image to X inches at whatever resolution you'd like (you likely don't want to go below 150 pixels per inch for print). Once resized, it's an easy matter of printing and making sure that your printer preferences are not set to "shrink to fit", and the squares should be exactly one inch.
Link to instructions for doing that on The Gimp. For Photoshop, you can get to that at Image -> Image Size in the top menu.
I can't afford Photoshop, but if Gimp is free I can try that. Thanks for the tips. I will also look at Excel. Unfortunately, I'm using Open Office and I don't know how well that will work. It's usually pretty close to Excel so it may be just fine.
After almost 20 minutes of working with Gimp, I have managed to print the exact same image no matter what I do. The best way for me to feel like an idiot is to try something new. It really can't be this difficult.
Looks like Excel/Open Office is the easiest way to do this.
I'm going to download Inkscape and see how that works out. I may have a need for it for something else I'm working on.
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My process for this is usually:
1) Extract images from PDF. Often you can just right-click and copy images, but if that doesn't work, try https://smallpdf.com/pdf-to-jpg. Generally copying images yourself gets better quality which is why I try it first.
2) Open or copy-paste the image into Gimp.
3) Improve the image in Gimp; brightness and sharpness levels.
4) Scaling the image in Gimp so that it's 1-inch scaled.
5) Use the Gimp-Guides tool to section the image into 8 x 10 inch slices (usually 3x3 for things sized like a flipmat).
6) Use the Gimp-Guillotine tool to slice the main image into smaller images along the guides.
7) Copy-paste those images into Word (or embed in LaTeX) and ensure the scale is correct. You will have to set margins smaller than usual.
8) Make it a PDF. I now have a (typically 9-page) document of A4 pages with map parts on them.
9) Print.
10) Cut off margins.
11) Optional: laminate, and cut off excess plastic.
12) Tape together. You now have a foldable map.
I seem to recall that Roll20 has this built-in; I know you can add an image, scale it as desired into 1" grids - I just don't remember if it's easy to print from there. But the operation of adding 1" grids to an image is definitely there.
Easiest way I can think to do this would be to use the PowerPoint equivalent for Open Office. Use a table with no color and all borders over the top of the image.
- Insert the picture of the map
- Then insert a table, setting the number of rows to the number of squares tall and the columns to the number of squares wide
- Turn the table color off and turn on all borders (2 point width or so should be easily seen)
- Change the table size to 1 inch wide per column and 1 inch tall per row.
- Move the image to fit under the table
- Resize the image to fit the table by dragging the corner control points while holding Ctrl (I think - PowerPoint uses shift to constrain the proportions, Libre Office seems to use Ctrl).
Eg. Creating a map for a room 40' wide by 30' tall room would need a table 4 columns wide and 3 rows tall. The table size would be 4" wide by 3" tall.
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OK so this is what your trying to do in Gimp.
Once you have created your output, I have often taken my output and used PosterRazor This will creat a PDF of your map and break it down over multiple pages (if the map is over letter size paper) and allow you to put it together kinda like a really simple jig saw puzzle.
In the past I have used cardstock I can us a UHU glue stick to put them together. If I used them multiple times I covered them with clear contact paper and just rolled them up when not used. Nice thing about contact paper is that you can then use wet erase makers on it.
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OK so this is what your trying to do in Gimp.
Once you have created your output, I have often taken my output and used PosterRazor This will creat a PDF of your map and break it down over multiple pages (if the map is over letter size paper) and allow you to put it together kinda like a really simple jig saw puzzle.
In the past I have used cardstock I can us a UHU glue stick to put them together. If I used them multiple times I covered them with clear contact paper and just rolled them up when not used. Nice thing about contact paper is that you can then use wet erase makers on it.
You can also take them down to a teacher supply store and laminate them--usually around $0.50 per foot. Cheaper and easier than contact paper and a better result.
I did this for some Red Hand of Doom maps that I printed off then glued to butcher paper backing (that my 2 year old had drawn on--reuse when you can) and was very pleased with the results.
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OK so this is what your trying to do in Gimp.
Once you have created your output, I have often taken my output and used PosterRazor This will creat a PDF of your map and break it down over multiple pages (if the map is over letter size paper) and allow you to put it together kinda like a really simple jig saw puzzle.
In the past I have used cardstock I can us a UHU glue stick to put them together. If I used them multiple times I covered them with clear contact paper and just rolled them up when not used. Nice thing about contact paper is that you can then use wet erase makers on it.
You can also take them down to a teacher supply store and laminate them--usually around $0.50 per foot. Cheaper and easier than contact paper and a better result.
I did this for some Red Hand of Doom maps that I printed off then glued to butcher paper backing (that my 2 year old had drawn on--reuse when you can) and was very pleased with the results.
It think I'm paying less that $.10 (maybe .20?) per foot so I'm going to stick with that.
Lots of really creative ideas. I'm going to try a few and see what works best for me. I don't think I'm going to need to laminate, but I see the advantages of it. I may do that for a home brew game. I'm just running the Iron Gods AP right now.