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Maps in 1/72 using Photoshop


Lightningboy2000

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I am trying to print out a navigation chart to put on the navigators table in a Bristol Beaufort, only for some reasons I am having trouble scaling down and printing. Even having a degree in graphic design doesn't seem to help!

The map should be about 8mm on its long side so I would have thought giving the file a high resolution should help. I've given the same resolution as the highest dpi on the printer but I can't seem to get what I want!

Has anybody else tried doing this at home. I know that you can buy 1/72 maps but I've got the gear to do it with, but I've already started banging my head against the table! ;-)

Martin

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You said you are having a problem but not described it. Are you struggling with

- reducing image in Photoshop?

- printing the reduced image?

Give us more information, add pictures, screenshots etc.

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Don't know if my method would help you in that scale but for 1/35 I culled some WW1 posters off the interthingy and copied them into Powerpoint. Then reduced the images to very small and printed in colour.

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Sort of akin to what Darby said, I go low-tech with mine, computer-wise.
I start with the highest resolution I can find and tweak as required in MS Paint, saved as a TIF file. I paste the image into Open Office to resize it as needed, and print, with no apparent loss of detail. (Same procedure I use for making my own decals.)

No 1/72 photos to show, but here's a German military map of Tobruk---found as an image on the internet---that I reduced and printed to 1/25 for my 'Rommel's Rod' a few years back:

06-GEDC7309RC_zps7d632362.jpg

I think it came out pretty well.

Edited by thorfinn
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A few thoughts...

Have you got the correct driver for your printer, and the most up to date version?

Have you got paper that's compatible with the resolution you're trying to print at?

I'd try to resize the image to 8mm size at 220dpi in Photoshop, and see what happens if you print that. Then try resizing the original again to 8mm sq at 440 dpi and try that...

Best,

M.

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Hi guys, I did fathom it in the end. I had some basic a4 copy paper going through a Epsom SP1290 with a maximum dpi of 1450 or something like that. I decided to make an 8mm file at the same resolution and printed with settings for basic paper. I just thought that it would retain some detail when printed.

I've done it now an placed it on the model, with the appropriate navigators tools. I will post some photos but I am pretty bad at not putting up proper build threads.

Thanks for the help, I may even give it another go with some better paper.

See you another time with some pics.

Martin

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Sort of akin to what Darby said, I go low-tech with mine, computer-wise.

I start with the highest resolution I can find and tweak as required in MS Paint, saved as a TIF file. I paste the image into Open Office to resize it as needed, and print, with no apparent loss of detail. (Same procedure I use for making my own decals.)

No 1/72 photos to show, but here's a German military map of Tobruk---found as an image on the internet---that I reduced and printed to 1/25 for my 'Rommel's Rod' a few years back:

06-GEDC7309RC_zps7d632362.jpg

I think it came out pretty well.

Thanks for that, the detail shows up pretty well in 1/25. I guess I'm asking too much from 1/72! :-)

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Well this is how it ended up...

28849339746_a5f440d8f9_c.jpg

Yes, I know - I should have started a build thread!

My progress in pics is here but I will start something up when I get the time!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/data70/albums/72157669183829974

Martin

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  • 2 weeks later...

I know this is pretty late to the party, but if you can get your hands on a good old-fasioned manufacturer's catalog---road maps topo maps, or whatever---you can cut out the little illustrations for years' worth of tiny-scale maps.

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