Thread: Making a hex grid with Gimp???

I can't find a "real" way.. but one way to fake it is to use the Filters->Distort->Mosaic and pick the hex. You have to do this on a color layer.

Size =?
Height= 1
Spacing = 1 (or whatever you want the line thickness to be)
Neatness = 1
Light = 160
Color = 0

Run and then use the select by color tool to select the inside color of the hexes and delete to alpha. Invert selection and fill with black (or whatever color you want the grid)

Originally Posted by Druvas

I want to create a TSR-like close up hex map with GIMP.

Programs like AKS Hex Mapper or Hexographer are designed for just this sort of thing, but if you really want to use GIMP the easiest way is probably to get the hex tiles from AKS Hex Mapper, load each one in GIMP and save it as a .gbr (GIMP Brush) file, and put all the .gbr files in your GIMP brushes directory. Then you can use the pencil tool to select hex tiles and draw them on your image. See attachment for a quickie done with this method.

Edited to add that I can't remember if the tiles were originally transparent or not (I made those three brushes from versions I'd converted some time ago, not from the originals) but in the worst case it's just an extra step to turn the background color transparent before saving the brushes.

Here is a zip file containing GIMP brushes made from the AKS hex tiles.

Note that I've reproduced the AKS tiles here without permission -- the site has been gone for some time and I don't know how to contact the author, but since the software was free (and they're simple copies of the original TSR hexes anyway) I'm assuming he wouldn't mind. I'll happily remove this brush set at his request.

[Removed out of date information]

[Merged into earlier post]

And since I couldn't resist trying out those GIMP brushes...

Thanks guys! I think the Filters--> Mosaic--> Distort method was exactly what I was looking for. I will see if I can then apply layers over top and build an "Old School" outdoor map out of it! Thanks!!!

You probably don't need to worry about drawing the hex grid; if you're just tiling hex icons, the grid will appear as the gaps between the tiles (see examples above). If you did want to lift the grid lines (so that, for example, you could draw some rivers on the map and have them run under the grid lines) you could just select by color, copy, and paste them onto a transparent top layer.

Originally Posted by jfrazierjr

I can't find a "real" way.. but one way to fake it is to use the Filters->Distort->Mosaic and pick the hex. You have to do this on a color layer.

Size =?
Height= 1
Spacing = 1 (or whatever you want the line thickness to be)
Neatness = 1
Light = 160
Color = 0

Run and then use the select by color tool to select the inside color of the hexes and delete to alpha. Invert selection and fill with black (or whatever color you want the grid)

I'm trying to modify some existing maps I have from some old role-playing games by over-laying a hex grid on top of them. I found this by searching the archives and it does pretty much what I'm looking for, except for one big problem: the Filters->Distort->Mosaic filter in GIMP can only go up to a size of 100 pixels, and I'm needing a much larger size due to the high resolution of the original map I'm overlaying a grid on. Is there any way to override or work around this limitation?