Battle Maps question

jigsawman

Hey you guys. My next project is a battle map. I have just found myself getting confused about the over-all size settings of the map. I want my map to be 56 inches wide and 25 inches tall after I print. So here are my questions:

1. What do I set the initial size of the new map to be?
2. If the grid is to be 1 inch by 1 inch, what do I set the grid settings to?
3. When I print, what should my scale factor settings be?

I am really really having a hard time with these measurements. In Photoshop, you choose either pixels or inches and resolution and that's what I am so used to but the measurements in CC3 just give me a headache.
Thanks for the help,
JSM

anomiecoalition

I normally make the map and then figure out printing later...but that often involves taping a whole bunch of paper together which sux a big one.

if your using a standard 5' square grid, then just multiply your dimensions by 5 (So, 280 x 125)...then when you print, click the bubble next to "scale factor" and then enter "5' "as your drawing distance...make sure you put the little ' after the 5 so it knows that 1 inch of paper is equal to 5' of your drawing space.

its weird cause I learned how to map in CC3 and now experiment here and there with photoshop and am totally lost whenever I try to figure out dimensions and resolution.

jigsawman

Ok, but what's the paper distance supposed to read before I print?

anomiecoalition

paper distance can be left at its default of "1"...which signifies 1 inch.

*I think what i've been saying is correct...but maybe one of the OGs can chime in to double-check me.

jigsawman

Ok, thanks. In the meantime I will play with those numbers and see what happens.
JSM

jigsawman

Well still having troubles. I just need to tell PDF creator or my large format printer that I want this image to be something other than a standard sized A0, A1, A2 etc size. When I get into the printer advanced button in PDF Creator, I can choose a custom post script paper size but the end result always turns out all white with no image. I do not get it.
JSM

jigsawman

Isn't there anyone from Pro Fantasy that can chime in here? This measurement stuff is really frustrating.
JSM

Ralf

- Make sure that you have print "All visible sheets as one page" selected. If you have a wrong setting there, it's quite possible that nothing gets printed.
- Also if you are printing to a pre-determined paper size and absolutely exact scale is not your concern, choose "Fit to Page" instead of "Scale Factor".
- If do need an exact scale printing, make sure that you
a) have the plan mapped correctly in real-world scale, e.g. the corridor that is supposed to be 5' across, is shown as being 5 units across on your map.
b) choose "Scale Factor" and put in 1" for paper size and 5' for drawing size. Do put in the " and the '.

If all that doesn't help, post the map here (with "applied" printer settings") so we can take a look at it.