Need a paint program but can't afford one?

[junk2drive]

I know most here are WinSP fans but here is a SPWAW question. I have trouble reading the maps in SP (all). WAW comes with Map Thing and a Chandla folder. I picked a map dat and with Map thing I can get a pdf that shows each hex elevation number with or without hex overlay. While that helps it is not a visual "topo" map. Chandla has WAWMap. I can pick a dat, and under Tools is Contour Map. I can display it with or without terrain. I can save this image as a bmp, open in paint, and use the plugin to add hexes. My question is how to get the hexes properly on this bmp?

[Cross]

I know most here are WinSP fans but here is a SPWAW question. I have trouble reading the maps in SP (all). WAW comes with Map Thing and a Chandla folder. I picked a map dat and with Map thing I can get a pdf that shows each hex elevation number with or without hex overlay. While that helps it is not a visual "topo" map. Chandla has WAWMap. I can pick a dat, and under Tools is Contour Map. I can display it with or without terrain. I can save this image as a bmp, open in paint, and use the plugin to add hexes. My question is how to get the hexes properly on this bmp?

Hi J2D,

I'm not sure I understand your question.

Are you asking how to use the hex plugin in Paint.net to make the hexes the correct size?

[junk2drive]

Thanks Cross, yes. Map Thing uses pixels for hexes so all the terrain features are square. But I think I could get the hex overlay to work if I messed around long enough. I was hoping that someone had a quicker answer.

[Cross]

Thanks Cross, yes. Map Thing uses pixels for hexes so all the terrain features are square. But I think I could get the hex overlay to work if I messed around long enough. I was hoping that someone had a quicker answer.

1. Make sure you've put the hex grid plugin (hexagrid.dll file) into the 'Effects' folder in Paint.net.

2. In Paint.Net, open the image you want to put a hex grid over.

3. I would then open a new layer. If you put the grid on a new layer above your image, you can choose to merge it onto the original layer (flatten the image) or not. You can completely skip step 3 if you want.

4. Go to 'Effects' (in the Menu bar) then 'Render' then you should see the plugin called 'Hexagonal Grid...' Click on hexagonal grid.

5. The Hex grid window pops open. Use the top slider to adjust the size of the hexes. Use the 'brush width' at the bottom of the window to adjust the thickness of the hex grid lines (I recommend '1' and check the anti-aliasing box). Then click OK and you're done.

You've now overlaid a hex grid on an image.

Hope this helps.

[junk2drive]

Yeah I got all that already. It's figuring out the scale of the map and sizing the hexes to match 50m/yds. If I find something easy I'll let you know. I think I'll find a small map so that I don't have to count as many hexes.

---

Well you can't put a hex peg in a square hole.

I used the Grid at 9, top left aligned. At least now I can view the topo and count the squares as hexes.

Thanks

[Cross]

Yeah I got all that already. It's figuring out the scale of the map and sizing the hexes to match 50m/yds. If I find something easy I'll let you know. I think I'll find a small map so that I don't have to count as many hexes.

---

Well you can't put a hex peg in a square hole.

I used the Grid at 9, top left aligned. At least now I can view the topo and count the squares as hexes.

Thanks

OK, I misunderstood.

You need a frame of reference to know the size of the hex grid for the map. There's a scale on most maps. Or if you know the distance between two villages is 1KM, then you adjust the grid until it's 20 hexes between the villages. But it's probably as much art as science. :rolleyes: