I've allowed generous margins so it should print to 2x 8.5x11 or 2xA4 sheets without trouble. The actual printed area is supposed to be 9.75"x14.29".
But if I print to a pdf, I don't get any inside margins; when I print from that pdf, the printer adds its own margins, and I get 9.25"x13.37". I think if I can print to a pdf with appropriate inside margins, then I should be able to print from that pdf without trouble.
Using Print - Microsoft Print to Pdf doesn't allow custom paper sizes such as 7.5x10, either.
Using Print Wizard - Microsoft Print to Pdf - 0.25" margins all around, I get a bunch of extra sheets, extra text around the edges, tile numbers, etc. that make the result unprintable.
Unfortunately, the Microsoft Print to PDF printer driver is pretty basic, so you can't control much when using that one.
But the general way to make thing the correct size for print is to rely on scaling, not margins. In the print dialog, switch to scale factor instead of fir to page, and make sure scaling is correctly set up. If your drawing is properly scaled from the outset, you should be able to calculate this rather easily, but if not, it may require some trial and error. You can also use the Distance command from the info menu to measure distances in your map, such as the width, to properly calculate the scale needed.
Obviously also set the tiling option to the desired value, adding overlap if desired.
This should ensure that your drawing end up the right size in the PDF, and you should then be able to print the document from the pdf using the the documents internal margins without the printer adding any more. You might need to print it with pdf software that allows more control over the printing process so that the scale of the document can be kept intact, like adobe reader to do that, I am not sure the built in pdf-viewer in windows handles that properly.
I drew the map with 3/4 inch hexes and 32 km per hex. I pick 0.75 printing units = 32 map units.
If I use File - Print... - Microsoft Print to Pdf, I don't get any inner margins, and if I print the result, then the printer adds its own margins, and breaks the scaling.
If I use File - Print Wizard - Microsoft Print to Pdf, I get inner margins, but I get a lot of text outside the margins, so I expect the printer would add its own margins, and break the scaling.
I can't use Adobe Reader, it gives me migraines. I have been using SumatraPdf, I don't know what other Windows pdf+epub readers might be better.
I need to create simple 1-page maps which can print to either L or A4 pages, with margins either way. If and when I get these working, then I can use 2x of these 1-page maps for this project, and I can avoid the inner margin issues. This would also give me more space than the current map.
I went with 24-unit hexes, i.e, 32 units per inch, to simplify the math, and to allow reasonably-thin lines for hex grids, single-track railroads, etc. But somehow 1. the scale factor is off; if I pick 32 units per inch, it exports something around 8 units per inch, perhaps 32 per 10 cm, and 2. it insists on printing the extras around the edges.
P.S. I was using the Modern Tactical [metric] for the generic hex map. Somehow I ended up with drawing units in feet (how???) and Campaign Cartographer used literal scales, inches per inch, instead of drawing units per hex. 384:1 solved the scaling and edge issues.
P.P.S. Still encountering too-wide margins, leading to too-small printouts.
I found a way to print at or near the intended size. 1. print with Windows Print to Pdf, 2. trim with k2pdfopt, and 3. print the output.
I can check pdf sizes by opening them in LibreOffice, but it's awkward. P.S. Also the Foxit Reader.
Both Windows Print to Pdf and k2pdfopt -mode trim rasterize the image, so neither are ideal. The Tome mentions other pdf software, but that's been turned into adware.
Here are my working drafts for the 2-part map. It's a different orientation. I used 1/3 size snap-hexes instead of 1/5 size.
I couldn't recreate the same color schemes. Judging by satellite photos, a range of green-to-olive-to-brown would be ideal for October/November in Ukraine.
I want something lighter overall, but maybe a combination of faint olive + light olive + medium olive would work, and wouldn't obscure text too much. I can't find that on my current palette.
Okay, so I'm trying to understand colors and palettes, and not seeing much in the manuals.
Each map style has a palette with 256 colors, numbered 0-255.
0-31 are hard-coded. #0 is black and #15 is white. #6 is light magenta and is also the cut-out color. #31 is the no-change color.
P.S. #1 is g 255, #2 is r 224, #3 is blue 255, #4 is g+r, #5 is g+b, #6 is r+b, #7-13 are still puzzling to me, #14 is gray. I'm not sure why it turns down the red. I have a hard time distinguishing the blue from black.
32-255 can vary between map styles. I used CA184 Modern Tactical as the base for the generic half-maps. I think CA43 Modern Political has a better range of greens and olives, as well as more appropriate symbols for this scale. I'm not sure how to switch the colors here.
Clicking "Define Color" opens a list of 48 "Basic Colors" and room for 16 "Custom Colors".
I can't tell all these colors apart, or figure out why these are the default colors, or, for the list of 32 and the list of 48 colors, figure out why they arranged this way. If I understood that, then when I can't identify colors by their appearance, at least I'd be able to identify them by position.
P.S. The help function refers to the fcw32.pal file used in oder versions of Campaign Cartographer, but I understand it is no longer used in the current version.
As far as I can tell, to use an alternative palette:
Find and back up any FCW32.PAL file in your Campaign Cart folder. The next steps won't overwrite the default palette, but they will overwrite any other custom palettes.
Open a map with a custom palette that you like.
Open the palette and Save Custom PAL.
Open the map you're working on.
Open the palette again and, if it doesn't show the palette you want, then Reload Custom PAL.
Open File - Drawing Properties - Custom Palette and click Attach to Drawing.
Save.
At this point you can rename the custom palette, I used Olive_FCW32.PAL, and you can move it somewhere safe.
I returned to the default palette, with the last green row before the yellow row, and I cut out several of the transparencies. I'm having trouble with the remaining transparencies and glow effects, they sometimes obscure the text in front of railroads, when I'm trying to use them to not obscure these. I take it this is transparency acne.
Comments
I've allowed generous margins so it should print to 2x 8.5x11 or 2xA4 sheets without trouble. The actual printed area is supposed to be 9.75"x14.29".
But if I print to a pdf, I don't get any inside margins; when I print from that pdf, the printer adds its own margins, and I get 9.25"x13.37". I think if I can print to a pdf with appropriate inside margins, then I should be able to print from that pdf without trouble.
Using Print - Microsoft Print to Pdf doesn't allow custom paper sizes such as 7.5x10, either.
Using Print Wizard - Microsoft Print to Pdf - 0.25" margins all around, I get a bunch of extra sheets, extra text around the edges, tile numbers, etc. that make the result unprintable.
Unfortunately, the Microsoft Print to PDF printer driver is pretty basic, so you can't control much when using that one.
But the general way to make thing the correct size for print is to rely on scaling, not margins. In the print dialog, switch to scale factor instead of fir to page, and make sure scaling is correctly set up. If your drawing is properly scaled from the outset, you should be able to calculate this rather easily, but if not, it may require some trial and error. You can also use the Distance command from the info menu to measure distances in your map, such as the width, to properly calculate the scale needed.
Obviously also set the tiling option to the desired value, adding overlap if desired.
This should ensure that your drawing end up the right size in the PDF, and you should then be able to print the document from the pdf using the the documents internal margins without the printer adding any more. You might need to print it with pdf software that allows more control over the printing process so that the scale of the document can be kept intact, like adobe reader to do that, I am not sure the built in pdf-viewer in windows handles that properly.
I did all that, *it doesn't work*.
I drew the map with 3/4 inch hexes and 32 km per hex. I pick 0.75 printing units = 32 map units.
If I use File - Print... - Microsoft Print to Pdf, I don't get any inner margins, and if I print the result, then the printer adds its own margins, and breaks the scaling.
If I use File - Print Wizard - Microsoft Print to Pdf, I get inner margins, but I get a lot of text outside the margins, so I expect the printer would add its own margins, and break the scaling.
I can't use Adobe Reader, it gives me migraines. I have been using SumatraPdf, I don't know what other Windows pdf+epub readers might be better.
I decided to start over.
I need to create simple 1-page maps which can print to either L or A4 pages, with margins either way. If and when I get these working, then I can use 2x of these 1-page maps for this project, and I can avoid the inner margin issues. This would also give me more space than the current map.
I went with 24-unit hexes, i.e, 32 units per inch, to simplify the math, and to allow reasonably-thin lines for hex grids, single-track railroads, etc. But somehow 1. the scale factor is off; if I pick 32 units per inch, it exports something around 8 units per inch, perhaps 32 per 10 cm, and 2. it insists on printing the extras around the edges.
P.S. I was using the Modern Tactical [metric] for the generic hex map. Somehow I ended up with drawing units in feet (how???) and Campaign Cartographer used literal scales, inches per inch, instead of drawing units per hex. 384:1 solved the scaling and edge issues.
P.P.S. Still encountering too-wide margins, leading to too-small printouts.
I found a way to print at or near the intended size. 1. print with Windows Print to Pdf, 2. trim with k2pdfopt, and 3. print the output.
I can check pdf sizes by opening them in LibreOffice, but it's awkward. P.S. Also the Foxit Reader.
Both Windows Print to Pdf and k2pdfopt -mode trim rasterize the image, so neither are ideal. The Tome mentions other pdf software, but that's been turned into adware.
Here are my working drafts for the 2-part map. It's a different orientation. I used 1/3 size snap-hexes instead of 1/5 size.
I couldn't recreate the same color schemes. Judging by satellite photos, a range of green-to-olive-to-brown would be ideal for October/November in Ukraine.
I want something lighter overall, but maybe a combination of faint olive + light olive + medium olive would work, and wouldn't obscure text too much. I can't find that on my current palette.
Okay, so I'm trying to understand colors and palettes, and not seeing much in the manuals.
Each map style has a palette with 256 colors, numbered 0-255.
0-31 are hard-coded. #0 is black and #15 is white. #6 is light magenta and is also the cut-out color. #31 is the no-change color.
P.S. #1 is g 255, #2 is r 224, #3 is blue 255, #4 is g+r, #5 is g+b, #6 is r+b, #7-13 are still puzzling to me, #14 is gray. I'm not sure why it turns down the red. I have a hard time distinguishing the blue from black.
32-255 can vary between map styles. I used CA184 Modern Tactical as the base for the generic half-maps. I think CA43 Modern Political has a better range of greens and olives, as well as more appropriate symbols for this scale. I'm not sure how to switch the colors here.
Clicking "Define Color" opens a list of 48 "Basic Colors" and room for 16 "Custom Colors".
I can't tell all these colors apart, or figure out why these are the default colors, or, for the list of 32 and the list of 48 colors, figure out why they arranged this way. If I understood that, then when I can't identify colors by their appearance, at least I'd be able to identify them by position.
P.S. The help function refers to the fcw32.pal file used in oder versions of Campaign Cartographer, but I understand it is no longer used in the current version.
As far as I can tell, to use an alternative palette:
At this point you can rename the custom palette, I used Olive_FCW32.PAL, and you can move it somewhere safe.
There are also several commands you can use to do similar things explained in this blog article by Remy Monsen.
I returned to the default palette, with the last green row before the yellow row, and I cut out several of the transparencies. I'm having trouble with the remaining transparencies and glow effects, they sometimes obscure the text in front of railroads, when I'm trying to use them to not obscure these. I take it this is transparency acne.