Town battle maps?

[Riley]

Wow, some of those maps are amazing! I have definitely found what I'm looking for -- thank you!

Another question though (and maybe I'll have to ask it elsewhere): What's the best way to go about adding a square grid to these maps?

Thanks again!

Glad to point you in the right direction, though the real credit for the stuff on that site should go to Tintagel (who hangs around these boards) and Cisticola.

I use Adobe Photoshop to overlay a grid over the image. (In my case, I just use dots indicating the corners where the gridlines cross).

Maybe you already know this, but when it comes to displaying maps, KQ cartographer Jon Roberts pointed me to a free program called maptool:
:: View topic - KQ9: What an absolutely beautiful map
RPTools - Home

Have fun!

 

[Mark]

I use Adobe Photoshop to overlay a grid over the image. (In my case, I just use dots indicating the corners where the gridlines cross).

Can you describe the process you use in a few easy steps?

 

[Othur the Bellied]

Can you describe the process you use in a few easy steps?

Yeah, that'd be swell!

 

[Mercutio01]

I have photoshop, which I'm familiar with at a novice level. I also just got Dundjinni, but have no experience with it yet.

I just wanted to plug Cisticola's maps as they are among the best I've ever seen made by using Dundjinni. He does post-production work (shadows, etc) in Photoshop, but Dundjinni is the base product.

You could also look through the Dundjinni forum for maps.

 

[Othur the Bellied]

I just wanted to plug Cisticola's maps as they are among the best I've ever seen made by using Dundjinni...

Yes, I concur! It did not take very long for me to recognize that all of the best maps were made by this person named Cisticola. I have since been grabbing everything of his (or hers?) that I can get my hands on!

 

[Riley]

Can you describe the process you use in a few easy steps?

Well, I actually print out the maps in 8x10 chunks and glue them down to construction paper - I don't have a projector, but I do have a refillable continuous ink supply jury-rigged to my inkjet printer. Makes great tabletop maps for cheap. Skipping the more involved process for achieving that...

I created a layer on which I defined a grid of 1", and choose the 'snap to grid' option. I then chose a pen tool (or some such tool) in a color and a circular brush diameter (100% hardness) which was visible but not too overwhelming for the maps underneath. I then started to draw a line - but gave it zero length - starting at each of the grid reference points. Eventually, I had an 8x10 grid of little dots that I now just paste over whatever map I'm printing.

Hope that makes sense. There's probably an easier way to do it, but I have little photoshop skill.

 

[Othur the Bellied]

I use Adobe Photoshop to overlay a grid over the image...

You lost me with the first step! I tried and tried, but I could not find how to "overlay a grid."

Could you help me out a little bit.........? Thanks!

 

[Riley]

You lost me with the first step! I tried and tried, but I could not find how to "overlay a grid."

Could you help me out a little bit.........? Thanks!

Sure.

For an 8x10 grid template:

1) Open Photoshop
2) File -> New

a. Width 8 in, Height 10 in, 200 dpi, CMYK, 16 bit, transparent background
b. OK
​

3) Edit -> Preferences -> Guide, Grid & Slices

a. Grid: Lines, every 1 inches, 1 subdivision
​

4) View -> Rulers (yes)
5) View -> Snap (yes)
6) View -> Snap To -> Grid (yes)
7) Select Brush Tool

a. Brush size 20 (or as you prefer)
b. Brush hardness 100%
c. Brush color black (or as you prefer)
​

8) Click once on each of the spots where the grid lines cross
9) Save this document.
10) Copy and paste this layer upon a 200 dpi, 8x10 piece of map.

I made these in a few different resolutions and colors, to match whichever map I wanted to impose this grid on.

Hope that helps!