[Award Winner] Old School Blue in Illustrator

[Ghalev]

Why not? An old school blue map in AI.

Amen; that's how I do all my old-school dungeon layouts, too. Nice work on this tutorial.

[HandsomeRob]

May I suggest, if you are planning on printing your map that you work in CMYK mode. RGB is only good for display on computer screens. Of course if you don't plan on printing, then RGB would be appropriate.

-Rob

[Badger]

Love seeing oldschool blue. Duly Repped!

Thanx NK Knew an Oldschooler like you would like it ;D

Amen; that's how I do all my old-school dungeon layouts, too. Nice work on this tutorial.

It was actually the first one I've done (both tutorial and blue map), but that is the way I plan to do them in the future

May I suggest, if you are planning on printing your map that you work in CMYK mode. RGB is only good for display on computer screens. Of course if you don't plan on printing, then RGB would be appropriate.

-Rob

Good call HR, meant to say something about it and totally forgot. I'll update the post to include CMYK remarks... This is actually the first RGB file i've done in AI for such a long time it was kinda eerie ....

[töff]

RGB is only good for display on computer screens

That's generally true, but the majority of printers, both hi-end and low-end, have fully automatic RGB-> CMYK filters and don't blink at RGB. The hue shifts, saturation, gamut concerns, rich black etc. generally don't matter unless you are a professional printer concerned with color matching (and even then, *ahem*).

I wonder WHY they chose that blue. Were they hoping for a "non-repro" effect? Anybody remember those days?

... /end OT.

[Ghalev]

I wonder WHY they chose that blue. Were they hoping for a "non-repro" effect?

Yeah. TSR did a number of different anti-photocopying schemes over the years: blue dungeons, brown-orange character sheets, red-screened character sheets, etc.

And, of course, all those dungeons were designed and drafted in black; the blue was a spot ink.

[ravells]

I really like the old blue dungeons! Repped and rated!

[cklarock]

I wonder WHY they chose that blue. Were they hoping for a "non-repro" effect? Anybody remember those days?

I heard it was an overstock ink, and the printers gave them a deal.

Maybe they could only spring for 1-color printing, and wanted something other than black for aesthetic reasons? Whatever the motive, they definately created an iconic style that all of us old-timers associate with "the good old days." Here's to branding at its least manipulative.

Great tutorial, delgondahntelius, thanks!

[Badger]

Well... I dunno if you actually did know why they chose blue... but in case you really don't know, the reason for the blue was because in the early days of black and white photos, the process could caputre most visible spectrums of light except for the color blue... something about the emulsion would render blue marks white, and thus.. invisible. Non Photo blue pencils became a standard in the print industry because you could sketch and ink over the blue marks... and in the final print the blue wouldn't show up.

Then xerox comes along and finds out that blue pen doesn't show up on copies made (because of whatever process that it used at the time) Since in the 70's and early 80's saw xerox machines as a main form of making copies, I'm sure TSR wanted you to buy and not copy thier stuff (pirate's eh?) they made blue a standard for maps in an attempt to keep thier copyrighted stuff from being sold on the black market for pennies they would never see...

This of course, is my theory on the matter....

and Thanks cklarock and ravs

[Gamerprinter]

Yes, blue will not photograph in a dark room, nor copy on a xerox machine - this is true in the print industry and is in fact the reason TSR chose to use it.

Regarding "old school maps" and me - I've been playing D&D since 1977, so I'm familiar with old school maps. Although I appreciate the nostalgia brought to many oldtimers regarding old school maps whether blue or B/W, the main reason I got into creating maps for my RPGs, is I hate old school maps.

I've always been into full color for all my creations. Knowing the truth, that color printing has always been expensive, especially moreso in the past. I've always felt that old school maps were designed to be cheap and difficult to duplicate.

The very reasons I map at all.

I'm an old school gamer, but not an old school mapper - it really isn't me.

GP