I find that they print just fine scaled up or down with that. For large, world-size maps, I select 4000 by 6000 pixels but for most others I stay with 2400 by 3600 pixels. However, you’re not dealing with super-accuracy, so you can select smaller canvas sizes (indeed, I suggest this because working with large documents can become slow). I always like to print my maps out to posters at 24 inches by 36 inches. 2 by 3 is the magic ratio so always use that. A file that is 2400 x 3600 pixels in size has dimensions of 2 by 3. Now, the actual size (x by y pixels) is not as important as the relative dimensions of the file (the x to y ratio). It costs no extra time or effort to work with a file that is prepared for printing versus one that isn’t, and if you ever decide to print a non-print ready file, you’ve got some problems.Īccordingly, you should always set you file size to match. I suggest that you always assume the answer to that question is “yes” because if you decide not to print it, you’re out nothing. When choosing the actual starting size of your map’s canvas, it helps to know if you’re going to be printing it or not. If you set battlemaps to lower resolution, it’s not my fault, and you can’t blame me. Battlemaps must always be made at 300dpi. However, with battlemaps, it is important to start knowing the size of the map. You want to add more detail to your island? Up the scale, clean some edges, no problem. With most maps, altering the size and resolution can be done after the fact. It costs you nothing and you will regret it if you ever have to upscale.

When creating new maps, always use 300dpi, even if you don’t think you’re going to print it. Downscaling by evenly divisible amounts always works better than odd amounts, and clearly scaling in 50% increments works best. Pixels get merged: not just left-and-right but also top-and-bottom. If you have a 20×20 pixel white square, if you size it down by 50% you’ll have a 10×10 pixel square. The inverse is not so true: scaling an image down in size will cause pixels to merge and become smaller. This is true whether you’re printing it or re-scaling it inside of Photoshop itself.

Scaling images – pixel images, that is, which is what gets sent to a printer – will always result in blurring. Have you ever found an old digital photograph, or a graphic on the web and then printed it out? It probably came out either really, really small (a 72dpi image printed a a 1:1 pixel ratio) or it came out really blurry and pixelated (a 72dpi image that was automatically scaled up to 300dpi). When you work for print, you know exactly what’s going to print and where. However, 300dpi for printing absolutely means a lot. There is a paradox here, in that 72dpi images are rarely shown at 72 pixels per inch the concept of an “inch” doesn’t mean a lot with computers anymore. 72dpi images are intended for viewing on screens: televisions, computers, phones, etc. There are two common resolutions for images: 72dpi and 300dpi. The resolution (or dpi) is the number of pixels that appear per inch in the document (“dpi” stands for “dots per inch”). It is important to understand these two concepts and how they relate to one another. The size and resolution of your map drive many things.

Where there are deviations, they will be noted in the individual “Creating Maps” articles. This article discusses some basics that apply to all maps types. While different map types have different needs, there are a few basic things that apply to all types of maps.

Fantasy world map designer