"Paper 3D Dungeons: Printed or PDF?" Topic

When you buy paper dungeon products, do you prefer to buy the PDF and print them yourself, or do you prefer to buy printed products?

PDF

Beacuse you always need ONE more wall section

PDF

PDF. I have sneezed while cutting, and though I avoided personal injury, the same could not be said for the print I was cutting…

PDF. I like being able to add more bits.

PDF – like Korean meatballs, its the dog's gonnads!

PDF only. All said above. Plus I can rescale them for different sizes: 25mm-6mm.

I'm sure sellers hate PDF because we always give copies to friends.

I'm sure sellers hate PDF because we always give copies to friends.

which is of course illegal.

Another vote for pdf. That makes for a highly customizable terrain set at a reasonable price in most cases.

Dave

I have been interested in buying some PDF dungeons lately and I was wondering how people typically go about printing them out. Do you print them at home with standard typing paper? Do you print them out in small sections and assemble them on the table or has anyone ever found a way to print out a large sized map (say at kinkos or something)? Do people use card stock? Just curious. Thanks for any input.

I either print directly to cardstock or print to paper and mount on foamcore.

For maps, I print out multiple tiles and assemble them on one board.

Maxpower – in my case, my answer is "yes". I have done all of the options you asked in about, depending on what I was going to use the model for. I usually print directly to cardstock, but if I have a model I am expecting to use a whole lot, I have printed onto typing paper, and glued the paper to foamboard. I have printed out in small sections, and then glued to cardboard, I also was able to have access once to a large poster printer and printed out a huge map.

Truth be told I like both.

However having to pick one or the other, for 3-D terrain I would pick pdf.

For tiles and paper figures I prefer printouts as these are usually provided on thicker stock than I can manage at home.

pdf

pdf

because you can make as much as you want and modifi the files to make new stuff.

I use card stock

WEll, I am with the crowd on this one…

PDF. I can make as many walls/floors/doors/etc. that I want.

Another vote for PDF.

Unless the printing of the model is way beyond what someone can do at home with their printer, PDF is preferred. I have seen some professionally printed models of such high quality, that I was willing to purchase them pre-printed. These were way beyond what someone can do at home with a even a professional printer for a computer, They had been printed on a high grade industrial printer. It was like comparing a dollar bill from your pocket to one you photo copied on a color copier*. This was rare exception I admit.

* Don't try this at home kids. Really don't.

PDF. Hands down. In fact, I won't buy pre-printed. I don't care what it is or how good it looks. I can do without it if it's not available as a PDF.

No matter how nicely you treat and protect your cardstock creations, eventually, something will happen. A leaky pipe will ruin a box, the cat will decide there's a mouse inside, some careless gamer spills his beverage. The list goes on and on.

Plus, one of the selling points for PDF terrain is that you can make as many as you want, grow your dungeon over time, add new features, etc. You can also rescale for different sizes if you want. And if you are even a little handy with any sort of paint program, you can customize that piece before you print it out. You want the party to enter a bload-splattered room? Take a regular tile and make it so, then print it out.

I print 2D map/tiles on cardstock, and use them as is. I tape them on the back in large pieces/sections.

For 3D pieces, I have gone with just cardstock, and I have printed on paper and then glued to foamcore or cardboard. I've even printed on cardstock, and then glued that to foamcore or cardboard.

I tried paper but I laminate it and you need thicker paper to make it so it doesn't scrunch up for some reason (I have cheap cr@p laminator). It helps a bit.
Thicker paper also helps if you spray glue it down onto a sheet of cork, foamboard, foam rubber etc and then cut it out (if you cut the shape then glue it down you might get it a bit off and can't move it!)
I heard of someone who printed on label paper and stuck that to the board…
For most model parts though I use 250GSM, and print at work when I have a new colour machine to test.