Printing tiles

[graybear88]

Hi
Requesting help to print off a large number of tile files. How can I do this without using a single peice of paper for each individual tile? Without changing the dimensions of the tiles? Any suggestions?
Thanks!

[StratosVX]

You're going to need a program that can manipulate images. Depending on what I'm doing, I either use Photoshop or Pages (I'm a Mac user). I only use Pages if I'm compiling quests into one document and I want the tiles associated with that quest at the end. Basically, you open the tile images you want to print and copy and paste them into one document. Then you can move them around to where you want them positioned and either save the document (for printing later or for giving to other people) or print it when you are done. If you are opening them in Photoshop, you will need to pay attention to the sizes of the tiles when you first open them. Tiles get saved at different resolutions (dpi) so you will most likely need to correct their sizes once they are in the new document. I don't know of any way around this outside of making sure all the tiles you are working with are the same resolution, but that may not be possible.

[Jander]

Has anyone found a good card stock for printing out tiles and the like? I am hoping to find something with a bit of shine to it that you can put through an inkjet printer.

[GimmeYerGold]

Has anyone found a good card stock for printing out tiles and the like? I am hoping to find something with a bit of shine to it that you can put through an inkjet printer.

The thing I've found that works best is printing the image on regular copy paper (the ink and color makes it glossy) and then spray mounting it onto black mounting board. Once you trim down the edges with a paper cutter, it looks just like what comes out of the box!

This is what I did to make these modular tiles from HQ-coop, anyway: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2307&hilit=+modular#p36886

[Jander]

Yeah, that's a good idea. I have tried regular cardstock and it's not as think as I'd like.

What type of cutter are you using? My wife is a scrapbooker, so I can always buy another cutter for her. :wink wink:

[KT_Cobra]

It's so weird this topic is being made right now because I was just about to ask the same question:
What kind of cardboard (or whatever) are people using to make the tiles as close to the real ones as possible?
I'll look into that mounting board stuff.
Another option to keep things simple is to use sticker paper. Some are more glossy than others. I don't know if this will come out like you want it, but that's only because I haven't tried.

[KT_Cobra]

Has anyone found a good card stock for printing out tiles and the like? I am hoping to find something with a bit of shine to it that you can put through an inkjet printer.

The thing I've found that works best is printing the image on regular copy paper (the ink and color makes it glossy) and then spray mounting it onto black mounting board. Once you trim down the edges with a paper cutter, it looks just like what comes out of the box!

This is what I did to make these modular tiles from HQ-coop, anyway: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2307&hilit=+modular#p36886

Gimme, I'm noticing after doing a search on "mounting board' that there are different sizes. What thickness would you recommend for tile printing?
Also, what about if I wanted to do an entire board?
One more question: You said that you spray mount it to the board. What kind of spray are you using?
My compliments, by the way, on the job well done via that link.

[chaoticprime]

I have made four modular boards, and only one of them exists today. Lots of error-correction. I made a pdf with everything set-up and ready to go, but you'd have to settle on a tile per page. Its also not the weight of the material you print on, but the brightness. You want them to look their best, because you can mount them to anything. Don't use corkboard as its *lemony goodness*. Don't use mounting board because its *lemony goodness*. Use MDF board or chipboard. That said, playing on a modular board is a drag that more or less makes playing the evil wizard a lot more work than necessary. I play on an enlarged version of the complete board cobbled together from resin tiles on a sheet of mdf board.

This was a semi-modular board I made using resin tiles and rejected. I later remade it into my current board.


Here it is after I decided to secure the rooms down.


For some reason I don't have any photos of my current modular board, but I have to say that after I drew a grid on the steel sheet to make laying down the tiles easier (and much faster) I realized that I had basically come full circle, and had not achieved anything that the board didn't already do. I still had a board, and I still had to pretend some of it wasn't there. So I changed my focus to playability.

This guy is my main play board. Its not finished being painted, but the primary goal was to have a bigger and better board that doesn't fit four squares across 3.5 inches of space. I made this one by accidentally over-sanding the above 3D board which eliminated its details rather strikingly. I did manage to come out of it with an en even surface. Not having doors tip over is nice, and is the number one reason modular boards are a pain in the ass. If you don't anchor them down (like with magnets) its just extra work to play the game.


I say there is no benefit from play with a modular board, only extra work to achieve the same thing you could already could. Throughout all of this it was important to me to not change any of the native dimensions of the rooms or hallways, also. Its enough that you may have to lay out the entire top or bottom hallway all at once and hope it keeps straight, but when you add having to approximate the directions in the Quest Books because you aren't using the exact same map specifications, playing the game as the evil-wizard turns into a freakin' chore.

This is my first modular tile set on mounting board that basically turned out to be an expensive and underwhelming boondoggle.


This is my second modular tile set, on the same mounting board. The first set didn't assemble correctly modularly, so I made these....which also didn't, but for different reasons. This one was also fit with magnetic backs. Turns out its a pain in the ass to set them up without a gridded reference on the table--the steel sheet they're sticking to wasn't working painted all-black.


Here that one is again, set up into a quest map.


Here's a close-up of my tile-board, after I made all the rooms fixed on the board. The tiles were hard to cast identically, so the height variations between the tiles became something hard to regulate that could ruin play.


Here is a link to the gallery with all my tiles with white wall areas sized perfectly to fit together. Most people just get rid of them, but they serve a purpose.
http://s619.photobucket.com/user/chaoti ... t=3&page=1

[Redav]

Has anyone found a good card stock for printing out tiles and the like? I am hoping to find something with a bit of shine to it that you can put through an inkjet printer.

I printed onto A4 size white label sheets and stuck them onto card. I then used a guillotine to trim the tiles to size. They look great

[slev]

What type of cutter are you using? My wife is a scrapbooker, so I can always buy another cutter for her. :wink wink:

You want a rotary cutter, with a steel rule and a self-healing mat.

For the backing, 1-2mm board is fine, unless you're making a whole board, which you;re best to use 1.5-2mm greyboard (or "chipboard" if you're in the USA), making hinges with bookbinding tape.