Drawing a Map

[Jester of the FoS]

Was still unhappy with the cliffs. Tweaked into this:

[alhoon]

Seems quite better in my opinion J

[Jester of the FoS]

Seems quite better in my opinion J

Yes, I'm much happier with the more craggy cliffs.

[alhoon]

What about the craggy cliffs around Obsidian Gate? I think they don't look much like the other cliffs. More or less, they seem somewhat like broken terrain there, not so much cliff-like, like the other ones.

[Jester of the FoS]

What about the craggy cliffs around Obsidian Gate? I think they don't look much like the other cliffs. More or less, they seem somewhat like broken terrain there, not so much cliff-like, like the other ones.

It's just the angle and the colour, but they do seem a little weaker in comparison, so I'll muddy 'em up a little. Need to do some tweaking on the southern plateau anyway.

[Jester of the FoS]

Found out Staples does 30x20 posters.

How cool is this:

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

awesome! How much did that set you back, if you don't mind me asking?

[MichaelTumey]

I never advertise here, beyond my mentions of my Kaidan setting, but I also run Gamer Printshop where I print, laminate, ship maps worldwide, based in my northcentral Illinois digital print shop. Been doing it since 2007. I've printed and shipped maps throughout the US and Canada, but have shipped maps to Mexico, Brazil, UK, Spain, France, Holland, Italy, Finland, Russia, China and Japan.

Full color map printing is $2.99 per square foot, thus a 24" x 36" map is $16.94. Maps can be laminated if you need it. Shipping tube adds to cost of shipping (USPS).

The website talks about the service, but the Ecommerce site is only for existing publisher and cartographer maps. If you want personal maps to print, you need to email files to me, preferrable PDF format, and pay through Paypal.

freerpgmaps (at) gmail (dot) com.

[alhoon]

Awesome Jester.
Michael, what about the sending costs? Do you have any idea how much it would be to have some sent in Europe?

[Jester of the FoS]

awesome! How much did that set you back, if you don't mind me asking?

It's only a 20'' x 30'' (should have gotten the 24'' x 36'' in retrospect) and that ran me $20 for the poster and an additional $11 for the laminating. Minus some online rebate thing plus tax for a total of $27.28 CAD. Not that bad, all things considered. And it's a must for my forthcoming Ravenloft campaign. Handy to have this big glorious map on the wall.
Might be comparable to MichaelTumey's service since I was able to walk and pick mine up after less than 24-hours compared to s/h rates and the wait. But if there's no Staples nearby...

Also dropped $18 at the same time for a hard copy printing of VanRichten's Guide to the Mists. Comb bound with a plastic cover for a dash of extra protection.
Would have likely been cheaper but went for the recycled paper.

[MichaelTumey]

Michael, what about the sending costs? Do you have any idea how much it would be to have some sent in Europe?

Adding the cost of a shipping tube, it costs roughly $20 to the UK, and a little more throughout Europe. (It's about $16 to ship and $4 for the tube).

I've also printed blank grid maps for Game conventions throughout the US for various con organizers.

Lamination using 5 mil film is charged $ .25 per linear foot (laminates up to 36" wide by any length), thus a 24" x 36" is $6.00

Note adding more than one map to ship abroad is smarter than 1 map, as the weight difference is small for 1 - 5 maps. Most of the cost is due to the size of the package - since maps are rolled up, it requires the minimum length of the shorter side of the map (24" x 36" map requires a 26" tube, for example).

While I initially started the company with the goal of printing for individual GMs and cartographers, I've gotten more attention from small publishers unable to produce commercial maps for their products cost effectively. I am the exclusive printer and distributor for some publishers maps, for example I print Anna Meyer's Greyhawk maps (50+ map sections of Greyhawk).

I started this website first, before I became a professional fantasy cartographer, but within a month of starting the map printing service, I was creating maps for published material - its how I first entered the RPG industry as a professional, rather than just a gamer.

[Jester of the FoS]

Michael, something I've been considering doing is a custom DM screen.
I like my thick card stock Pathfinder one, but find the height annoying (11" rather than the landscape 8.5" high, like the 4e screens). And I could add all the tables I most want most on one side and images I like best of the other.

I was looking into doing that at Staples as well, but it would be tricky. They don't have posters the right dimensions: the best they have is 18x24. And only one side is printed.
It occurred to me that 3-4 letter-size pages laminated together might also work, if they were tight together with little gaps (and, as it's laminated, it would allow the screen to double as note space with wet erase markers).

How tricky would that be to do?

[MichaelTumey]

I have a color laser printer that handles 11 x 17, using up to 110# cardstock. I could laminate 2 each, 11 x 17 card stock together to create a larger GM screen. Just Email me your design with your desired charts - I can dress it up, then print and laminate.

An 11 x 17 color print is $.79 each ($1.49 for double side printing; add $.30 for the cardstock). Lamination would only be a couple dollars. 11" x 17" envelope costs a bit more to ship than a standard letter size print - $6.00-ish.

I think its doable.

[alhoon]

Wait! A new Ravenlong DM screen? I might be interested as well. What do you plan to put there Jester? What would be the total cost Michael for shipping to Greece? I don't mind even 1 month delay.

[Jester of the FoS]

Wait! A new Ravenlong DM screen? I might be interested as well. What do you plan to put there Jester?

I'm using a buncha house rules, such as armour as DR and Defence bonus and Wound Points. Some of that info might be nice to include in addition to the standard handy DMing advice. But most of it would be similar to the base PF DM screen.

The 3e Ravenloft screen kinda sucked, not having a lot of useful tables. And, for a PF game, the 2e one is equally useless. Would be nice to have one specific to Ravenloft with related images but with useful information.