Tjoek's A&A Anniversary OOB Map file (Updated March 23rd)

I’ve never printed a game map before, but I am excited to start doing this, starting with Axis & Allies Anniversary Edition. With this file, if printed on vinyl at about 3 ft by 6 ft there anything I should know or processes I should take to get a clean, clear print?

@2Huskies:

I’ve never printed a game map before, but I am excited to start doing this, starting with Axis & Allies Anniversary Edition. With this file, if printed on vinyl at about 3 ft by 6 ft there anything I should know or processes I should take to get a clean, clear print?

This size can be achieved without modifying the pixel count and without quality effects simply by scaling: enhance dpi from 150 to 250.
While keeping the pixels at 17776x9162 this - when printing with 250 dpi  - results in an image size of 71,1x36,6 inches, so approximately 6x3 ft.

This is an easy task for your image manipulation software.

However, I am not a printing expert - so others hopefully add their knowledge regarding the printing aspects.

The guy I went through in Seattle just asked for the image and the dimensions I wanted and he handled the rest. Not sure where you are located but I would highly recommend this guy to anybody. I will use him once I am done with my custom map

I guess what i’m asking is this file going to give you a basically perfect reproduction of the OOB map, just on your material/size of your choice without looking pixilated or color saturated/faded?

YG, i’m really curious to see your results and/or modifications.

I’ve played every version of A&A from Classic to 1941 through Global… out of all, (for me and my friends) we’ve settled on Anniversary as our game of choice… not that we don’t like Global (we do), it just takes up too much of the time we’re willing to give and we all enjoy the balance of Anniversary for both gameplay and time investment… having said that, we are looking to print the best possible map for our group… and we’re all debating on which one is the best (we can’t decide)… we like the work of Imperious and Dedo, as well as possibly going with a reprint of the OOB map such as on here… we just need a nice bigger map than OOB… so we’re taking our time to find THE PERFECT map for us, and hoping to see results of what other people have chosen for AA50.

I think the minimum DPI should be 300 and to convert to jpeg due to memory issues will make the image unsustainable for any printing. I hope the work can be redone is another format to avoid the pixilation problem.

But you know my map redo is 100% vector, no image loss at any scale!

@Imperious:

But you know my map redo is 100% vector, no image loss at any scale!

I really like your map Imperious!

@Tjoek:

@Nowhere:

Has anyone actually printed this map? Maybe its just me, i dunno, but it seems subdued/pixelated compared to the Adobe Maps of Dedo and Imperious… but i could totally be off base or maybe i need glasses?

At what size do you want to print the file? As per my last response you should be fine around 80 inch wide. But you can easily make a test print of a small portion of the map at the number of pixels per inch you want to go for to see the effects of enlarging the file.

Let me know if it helps if I create a few files of different enlargements that are small enough to print on a standard A4 or Letter page. Then you can see for yourself. Do know that colors will always differ between your home prints and professional print equipment.

Due to the limited playing surface we have, we’re looking only to print a map roughly 57" [wide], maintaining aspect ratio… we’d take it to a professional printer for either show floor or outdoor banner vinyl.

Simply looking for something as bright and clear as the OOB map would be fine (but printed so we can roll it up and have a seemless gameplay experience).

Would your map work for this, or would we need something altered or a different map alltogether?

@Tjoek:

That should be no problem, but please wait a few more days for a new file to be released as I’m doing some rework on the colours and brightness of the map. As well as some other small changes that YG asked me to do.

Hi Tjoek,
By chance are you planning to do any work as far as enhancing the border colors in the Soviet territories to make them stand out more, which was part of my original request earlier in this thread? If not, I know someone who may be able to help me with his Photoshop software, but I’ll have him wait for the new file at this point. I look forward to seeing the new file and your new enhancements!

@Tjoek:

That should be no problem, but please wait a few more days for a new file to be released as I’m doing some rework on the colours and brightness of the map. As well as some other small changes that YG asked me to do.

No problem waiting… though you might want to post your new map in the AA50 forum instead of customizations (just make sure to announce it in this thread to)…

By all means, i’ll be waiting.

Any chance when you’re done updating the changes to the AA50 map you can pop out a 2nd version with optional corrected roundels for Germany and Italy? It always bothered me they removed the historical emblems those countries used for more PC ones, all the while, we can get the correct roundel control markers from HBG (ty HBG)… I would just love to have my roundels (that our group already has and uses) to actually match what’s on the board… I mean not only did they remove the Fascist Italy roundel, but they replaced Italy’s roundel with Iran’s roundel… how annoying!

Anyways, if it’s possible to have these on a 2nd map option… or perhaps at least make a descent to-scale transparent background PNG with the correct roundel so we can pop it on there ourselves before taking it to the print shop?

Something like what HBG uses would be awesome (if you could be so kind). Our group can’t be the only one that uses these roundels from HBG.

P.S.
I don’t know your country of origin, so if you’re from Germany, you don’t have to explain German law, just pretend I didn’t even ask, I can respect that.

Fantastic work Tjoek… sincerely an amazing contribution to the community.

…went to get it printed today for a friend and I nearly passed out when my print shop told me how big the print would be (119.84" X62.41"). Thankfully they turned it into a much smaller JPEG at the original size of 46" X 24" I’m going ahead with it and should have his print by next week, I’m waiting for the one with the income tracker for mine… here is the compressed file.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/2jhlkfiilcpp7at/Tjoeks 50AE Map File.jpg