Creating Maps for Fantasy Grounds

[jpstodwftexas]

I use Campaign Cartographer 3 to make Maps. I recreated several maps for someone who uses FG. Seems they need resizing and there is an Issue with grids on Maps and FG grids aligning. Is there a way of not using grids in FG and it still work?

I save the maps at 72 DPI. Grid is set at 5' in CC3.
Is there a specific size a map needs to be?
What is the best DPI to use 50, 72, 100, or something else?

To be Honest I don't use FG so I have no idea how to make Maps.
However i do make maps and sell so how would I go about creating maps you could use?
On RPGDriveThru I provide grid and no grid versions of the maps. Sadly until I get a Newer system I can't save higher than 72 DPI yet.

[kane280484]

There is a Map Align tool for FG https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?19813-Map-Align-Utility-to-scale-and-align-map-to-grid

When I'm in trouble with applying grid it helps me to calulate proper map & grid size to pick, very good tool.

[Skellan]

I often build the maps in cc3 without a grid on the actual map. That way I can just set the grid size in FG to whatever scale I want

[Mortar]

50px or 100px to a 5ft square seems to work the best

[jpstodwftexas]

There is a Map Align tool for FG https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?19813-Map-Align-Utility-to-scale-and-align-map-to-grid

When I'm in trouble with applying grid it helps me to calulate proper map & grid size to pick, very good tool.



Thank you
I will pass that on to them.
Since I don't use FG it won't really help me design maps for users.

[jpstodwftexas]

I often build the maps in cc3 without a grid on the actual map. That way I can just set the grid size in FG to whatever scale I want

Why I always provide a Grid and No Grid Version

[Trenloe]

Go with 50 pixels per 5 foot. Don't put a grid on the map, but put a single 5 foot (50 pixel) square in the corner of the map that would align to a proper grid. i.e. build the map in CC3 with a grid, make a one square image on the map that ties in with the grid, and then remove the CC3 grid before exporting from CC3. See an example of this here: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?15833-Tor-s-Maps&p=119323&viewfull=1#post119323

[jpstodwftexas]

So It seems 50 or 100 Works Best

[damned]

So It seems 50 or 100 Works Best

they are the most common sizes used. they dont actually work better than anything else as such but moving towrds the most commonly used format makes sense.
you can put a grid on your map if that is your preference.
there should be no grid alignment issues with a map you have made yourself - it is older scans of maps and older hand drawn maps where the grids are not uniform across the page that FG struggles with.

I prefer 50px to keep the file size down and i tend to export for FG in pretty low res (you can use gimp or other software to do this step) - try going as low as jpg 40% and you will see a massive saving is file size (making FG run happier) with some quality loss. if the quality loss is too great try 50%/60%/70% but stay with jpg files.

[jpstodwftexas]

So I should not be saving them as PNG

[damned]

Save them as PNG from CC3 as it retains a high quality image. But convert them to lower quality JPG for use in Fantasy Grounds. Keep them both but only use the JPG in FG games.

[Trenloe]

Xorn's guidelines here are great: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?20339-Best-export-setting-for-Campaign-Cartographer3-generated-FG-maps&p=166846&viewfull=1#post166846

Your end result you give to your friend should be a small JPG at 50 pixels per 5 foot square (or whatever pixels/5 foot value you agree with your friend).

[donpaulo]

really informative thread. Stuff like this is FG gold
thanks to everyone

I recently tried making a map using pymapper but was not impressed with the vanilla flavor options. Maybe I need to add in some bells and whistles ? any advice there would be most appreciated.

I will try using CG

[damned]

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?20879-Map-Making-Software-summary

Do yourself a favour and try Pyromancers. Spend a few minutes getting used to how it does things. Its quick and pretty effective.

[donpaulo]

Done and done
many thanks

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?20879-Map-Making-Software-summary

Do yourself a favour and try Pyromancers. Spend a few minutes getting used to how it does things. Its quick and pretty effective.

[rob2e]

I had to reinstall Windows and I lost (and of course cannot remember) the export settings for CC3+ for maps to use in FG.

Can anybody point me to the post where those settings are?

Specifically:

Antialias %
PNG compression (Fast, medium or slow)
JPEG Quality
Progressive (checked or unchecked?)

Somehow the settings I've tried aren't making the map as CLEAR and DETAILED as it once was.

ThanX guys!

[Zacchaeus]

I think antialias at about 25%; compression at Max, Jpeg at 75% and progressive unchecked (mostly because I don't know what that does)

[LordEntrails]

Progressive is so that when the image loads it first gives you a low res (every third?) line, and then as it loads the rest it gets clearer. Not really a quality setting, but rather a download level of detail type of thing.