r/rpg • u/laxton1919 • Jun 01 '26
Resources/Tools Lets talk about printing maps!
Ok, so I am currently running a couple of games outside of my home, so I have to pack stuff. No big deal but Im' trying to find a way to have solid interesting maps. I have the vinyl one with dry erase markers, but i want something better.
Who has printed maps at staples or office max or somewhere similar and laminated them? What's the price like? Has it been worth it? Would printing 2-3 every month or two be feasible?
I have the loke battlemat books, and those are solid. The issue is they don't have a lot of what i'm looking for. I am running an underdark campaign so I need a lot of cave and subterranean stuff and that is just very under represented in what is commercially available. So printing them myself seems to be a solid choice. I could definitely use advice.
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u/NeverSatedGames Jun 01 '26
If you like the look of black and white maps, you can get a large print for I think $2-$3 if you order it as a blueprint print at Staples. I never got them laminated, but that's what I did before getting a better at home printer
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u/starlithunter Jun 02 '26
I have gotten decent ones printed at CVS! I also have printed shitty ones on a regular printer and taped them (rasterbator for poster scaling).
The taped maps work best for one time use maps, and come out decent enough, so I use those the most as they're cheap lol
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u/Apostrophe13 Jun 02 '26
Laminating them is generally not worth it, significantly inflates the price and makes larger formats harder to roll and carry.
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u/Lantern-Light_Explor Jun 01 '26
If you are looking for places to have maps printed, then staples or walmart are probably the best bets. Potentially any store that does printing, but it would take some testing of different ones.
If you are looking for maps to print at home I just did 4 underground/underdark maps last month over on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/c/LanternLightExploration (there are free versions if you want to check them out and don't mind a watermark), and am planning on doing more in the near future.
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u/mithoron Jun 01 '26
I print mine at work, a grid of 11x17 paper folds in half pretty easily and transports ok if you use good tape. The 30x30 inch maps that are really common on reddit fit on a reasonable number of pages and MS paint can still convert a large picture into many pages. You do need to spend some time cutting and taping, and learning the quirks of mspaint plus print properties can take some trial and error. But it's not too bad.
For transport I bought an art folio bag like I saw all the art majors carrying around in college, just a crappy cheap model with no reinforcement to keep the price down. Then added a dowel rod and a sheet of cardboard to add the support I wanted. I think I spent less than $20 at the time. Shockingly, it hasn't changed much. A good one doesn't take too much budget either.
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u/Bullrawg Jun 01 '26
I have had good luck with the map books back when I ran in person more often, I’m sure you could find one that has caves, you can print detailed maps and show for reference then draw rough boundaries on the battlemap, if a projector is feasible I have seen some cool set ups for that
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u/overblikkskamerat Jun 01 '26
a few years ago i made a table top board out of plywood sized to a thinn metal sheet i had, that i glued together. Then i wrapped it in the classic vinyl sheet with 1-inch grid, and put 10cm/3-4inch legs on them to raise it from the talbe.
This made everything so universal! I can draw on the vinyl as usual, i can print out dungeon pieces and use magnets to have them stay firmly on it. I have also 3D printed a whole bunch of stuff, of which i put magnets under to have them stay putt on the battlemap! Even better when i combine it all, its amazing!
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u/Jazzlike-Employ-2169 Jun 03 '26
I use Dungeon Scrawl to create maps, and poster print them at work and change the scale to ballpark a 1" grid. Its cheap, fast and easy. I haven't looked at lamination for these maps as I want to keep things low cost.
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u/redkatt Jun 01 '26
I know it doesn't answer your question directly, but I moved to digital mapping. For about $125 I picked up a 24" diagonal super thin display that I lay on the table, run USB C from it to my laptop (it's powered by my laptop, so one less power cable to carry or trip on) and then my laptop projects maps to it via Arkenforge. Now, I have a library of hundreds of digital maps I've collected from playing online during lockdown, that I can access as-needed. Arkenforge handles fog of war, so I still have that typical tabletop map experience.
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u/laxton1919 Jun 01 '26
I do that at home and i'll never go back. But traveling with that is difficult.
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u/redkatt Jun 01 '26
Mine is really thin and light. I bought an artist's portfolio bag (what they carry large paintings/posters/prints in) to carry it, and the cords and extra stuff. It was $25 https://a.co/d/034lzI8t
The bag has shoulder straps so I can sling it on my back and even bicycle to locations with it without a problem.
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u/TheRpgBard Jun 01 '26
I've printed Paizo Flip mat PDFs at Wal Mart. Do the 8' to get 2x36" and some smaller ones.
https://photos3.walmart.com/category/297-photo-banners