There has to be a way to do this!

Okay, so my hasband and I are initiating the next generation of gamers... Our two boys, age 14 and 16. My husband is running a 2nd ed. game for myself and the kids. He's having a bit of an issue keeping the combat straight in his head, and the other night he mentioned wishing he had a terrain table (battle map).

I bought one for outdoor terrain... But it wasn't exactly what he needed. Then I remembered seeing g in one of the tutorials that cc3+ can make battle maps. I thought 'duh, that's one of the reasons I bought it!'

After reminding him that this program could do it, I asked him what type of battle map he wanted. He wants a mountain based kill box. I figured no problem... And set out to make it. I have it almost done and ran into an issue that shouldn't be happening. I have my dusty valley... I have my cliffs on either side, I have the dry riverbed(after a fashion- there is no river, dry bed in the mapping tools) and I have a dead tree in the valley. The map is based on his description of where we were during our last session... We were ambushed in this kill box.

One thing I was missing, is the continued mountains on either side... And I came up with a brilliant idea. I chose one of the Great peak mountain symbols, and placed them just OUTSIDE my map border so that the sides of the mountains would be just inside. I remembered from the tutorials that nothing will stay outside your map border. Once I was done, I clicked the redraw, expecting my mountains to disappear outside the map. They didn't... I now have mountains outside my frame. I know there has to be a way to do this... Is there a step I missed?

Comments

  • You might need to trim it. Look up "trim" in your users manual for how to do this. It may also be available in the help part of the cc3+ program.
  • jslaytonjslayton Moderator, ProFantasy Mapmaker
    Trim won't work on bitmap symbols, unfortunately. The usual solution is to put a collar ( or 4 boxes) around you map that is the same as the background and wide enough to cover any spillover. If you want an image, you can also just export a rectangular section for the main map area and don't select the parts with the spilled mountain.
  • If you need overland maps, I have lots on my Crestar site.
  • Have you tried exporting the map to see if the parts of the image outside the frame actually appear in the exported version? They don't always. If the rogue mountains do appear in the exported image, the easiest thing to do would be to open it in a graphics program like Paint and crop it to be exactly what you want. Personally, I usually do hours of work on a map in other programs after exporting it from CC3. It's just easier to do certain things in other programs.
  • My husband actually cropped the JPEG Image to cut out the mountains... Now I just have to figure out how to bring that JPEG image back into cc3+ so I can add the grids and then we can take it somewhere to blow it up and laminate it, and he has a battle map!
  • Actually I think it would have been better to just finish the map, grid and all, then export it to a jpg to crop it. That way you don't have to bother with trying to put it back into cc3+
  • DkarrDkarr Traveler
    My recommendation would be to add all the pieces of the map then print to PDF with the scale you want for your grid on the battlemat.
  • How do you print to pdf? Doesn't that require a separate program?
  • DkarrDkarr Traveler
    Yes, freeware such as CutePDF and many others.
  • jslaytonjslayton Moderator, ProFantasy Mapmaker
    Posted By: LadieStormMy husband actually cropped the JPEG Image to cut out the mountains... Now I just have to figure out how to bring that JPEG image back into cc3+ so I can add the grids and then we can take it somewhere to blow it up and laminate it, and he has a battle map!
    It might be easier to add the grid to the original FCW file and then use File>>Save As with type "Rectangular Section JPEG" to select just the part that doesn't have the mountains. It's like cropping the JPEG, but you get the full export resolution.

    If you'd like to insert your cropped JPEG into a drawing for further annotation, you can use Draw>>Insert File and select the JPEG image.
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