Patreon supporter Scott E Nash shares his map prints, and how he made them!
Maps: the Twisting Trail, Forgotten Crypt, Hungering Pit, and Autumn Stream
From Scott:
I wanted to share my experience creating your maps using this post from your site as my basis…
I am very grateful that he shared his experience so that I could duplicate it the best I could. In my own way.
I used the backing board he recommended, spray adhesive, and black permanent markers for the edges. I did not change the image in anyway from the PDFs you provide. I did not change the borders to be black, etc… I don’t think I have the editing program he used, so that was not really an option for me.
I simply set my printer to best quality, card stock, no border and used 8.5×11″ card stock to print on. After attaching the maps to the backing boards, when cutting off the extra backing board, because they were 12×12″, I simply also cut off the white borders on the top and bottoms of the maps.
Then as a final touch, I put a drip of elmer’s white glue on my finger and used it to seal the edges of all the maps. It dries clear and will help keep the map edges from ever lifting up.
But for $10.00, you could buy enough supplies to create (6) 4 Piece maps that are really sturdy. Plus you can stack them up into a super small stack and not damage them at all.
I may do a test of spraying either a matte clear lacquer or fixative to the map on a test piece and see if that will work well. If it does I will update the post.
Hopefully this is helpful to someone else…
Thanks again for the awesome maps! I have more to make…
And thank you Scott for your post! I’m sure it will serve as a useful guide for many.
If you, reader, make your own map prints, please share them with me at 2minutetabletop [at] gmail [dot] com!
Is there a trick to keeping the board from warping during drying? I follow the directions but even after drying under a pile of books, it still turned out bowed. Only slightly, but enough that it will be annoying on the table not laying flat.
Use less spray glue. You only really need a thin layer you also can wait a little while until the glue is dryer before applying. Spray mount does not need to be wet to adhere. Paper board will normally have some curve to them, you might find it best to place the board so it is arching upward like a bridge before you apply the print. Then the glue should actually pull against the curl of the board forcing it towards a flatter state.
I also tried to use the recommended chip board but was left unsatisfied with the results. Mine really warped to the point were they were pretty much unusable. My solution was to use black foam board. Very similar outcome, only easier to cut, and will lay flat with no warping.
Worth checking out.
Thanks for the guild ajzinni, you inspired me to use this method.
I was able to fix this by adhering a blank piece of the same thick papers using the same glue to the underside of the boards. Having an equal stresses during drying balanced out and now they lie flat.