who in the Uk is the best/cheepest ?
i would like to do trench run so would need 6'x6' mat to cut up
any ideas?
game mats
I've been looking into buying a decent game mat, It seems our choices are a bit limited in the UK 
I've found one range that is available over here which is by a company called Gale Force 9, there ok mats and go for between £27-£30, they have one mat that's made up to look like the surface of the Death Star.
To be honest though I wasn't overly impressed by them...so as I'm a bit of a dab hand at photoshop and have some contacts in the printing industry I've decided to design and make my own. I sent my first mat off to print yesterday and I should get it back at the end of next week. I've created a starfield/nebula design for this one but plan to do several other designs including a mat designed with trench run games in mind. Once I get this first mat back and I'm happy with the quality of it I might look at getting some more printed with the idea of selling them in mind.
If you've got a bit of time on your hands you could do what this guy did: http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/936170/deathstar-trench-run-singapore-24-02-2013-with-a-b
If you scroll down to the comments there's a couple of posts on how he made it and what template he used for the print outs and stuff.
To be honest though I wasn't overly impressed by them...so as I'm a bit of a dab hand at photoshop and have some contacts in the printing industry I've decided to design and make my own. I sent my first mat off to print yesterday and I should get it back at the end of next week. I've created a starfield/nebula design for this one but plan to do several other designs including a mat designed with trench run games in mind. Once I get this first mat back and I'm happy with the quality of it I might look at getting some more printed with the idea of selling them in mind.
Who are you getting to print it? I've got this design that I've been planning to get printed, but I wanted to get some feedback on decent options.
Nice design. It's actually a friend whose printing this one for me as a favour, if you want I could ask him to give me a quote on how much he'd charge to do it?
Nice design. It's actually a friend whose printing this one for me as a favour, if you want I could ask him to give me a quote on how much he'd charge to do it?
Yeah that might be cool.. tell me how yours comes out.
Nice design. It's actually a friend whose printing this one for me as a favour, if you want I could ask him to give me a quote on how much he'd charge to do it?
Yeah that might be cool.. tell me how yours comes out.
No worries, as soon as it comes I'll post up some pics. I've seen his vinyl banner prints before and the qualities always been really good.
I'd be interested in this if possible, UK based of course. No worries if its too much effort 
I've considered looking at getting something printed but I have no idea about where I'd go, or what would be a good material etc. I saw the galeforce 9 mats and wasn't that impressed, not for £27. A friend of mine has gotten a 5x5 black bit of material which should fit nicely, but a mat would be better.
I've been considering a similar view on my mat which I'm currently awaiting a few quotes for. Rough guide was £18 +pnp for a 3x3
Just waiting for them to confirm their own price predicter.
I've been considering a similar view on my mat which I'm currently awaiting a few quotes for. Rough guide was £18 +pnp for a 3x3
Just waiting for them to confirm their own price predicter.
Thats seems like a very reasonable price, have you got a link to the companies site?
hey this all sounds good to me, please let us know what your friend can do in the way of sizes.
i am still thinking of a 6'x4' table trench run.
I spoke to the friend in question this morning...for a one off 100cm x 100cm (39in x 39in) vinyl print he could do it for £37.34 and that would include VAT and UK delivery. He can bring the price down for multiple prints of the same design, £50.36 for two prints including VAT and UK delivery...so that would be £25.18 per mat...and the price obviously comes down the more you order.
He can do other sizes as well, for square mats as well as the above mentioned 100 x 100 mat, he can do 150cm x 150cm and 200cm x 200cm prints. And he can do rectangular prints as well starting from 100cm x 50cm going up to 400cm x 200cm.
If your interested just pm me for his email address and he can give you more info etc.
http://www.bigvaluebanners.co.uk/cart
This company seem very cheap. Not sure if you need PVC or Ultra heavy PVC
http://www.bigvaluebanners.co.uk/cart
This company seem very cheap. Not sure if you need PVC or Ultra heavy PVC
Yeh they seem a little cheaper, a 100cm x 100cm PVC mat came up to £32.99 incl VAT and shipping. Although I did notice that as standard they hem the edges and put metal eyelets on them, you'd probably not want that for a gaming mat, but imagine you could probably ask them not to do it if you called up.
Check out => http://www.printed.com
UK based. £17.47 for custom 3'x3'
- 450gsm PVC banner
- Just download a high res tiff from Hubble or some other space organisation
Check out => http://www.printed.com
UK based. £17.47 for custom 3'x3'
- 450gsm PVC banner
- Just download a high res tiff from Hubble or some other space organisation
Even if you put VAT and shipping on that it's not too bad a price. Most of the sites I've looked at use 500gsm PVC so you must be making the saving by going for the thinner material.
What I did see on their site that really interested me though was the Display Boards. Unless I'm reading it wrong it looks like you could make a 3x3 board made up from 1ft sections, each section with different artwork, for just over £30. That could be pretty cool.
I'm working on photo shop at creating some home made (therefore no copyright) backgrounds.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10100113740836474&l=65ad01dd4f
This is also a great page, they give permission for you to print them.
http://hubblesite.org/gallery/printshop/step1.php
Edited by Rodent MastermindSome online photolabs or photo stores may ask whether this image is copyrighted, since they are not allowed to print copyrighted material. Don't worry – our images have no copyright restrictions. We've created an Adobe PDF document that clearly states this. You may want to print this document out to take to the photo store, in case you are asked to prove that the image is copyright-free.
This is also a great page, they give permission for you to print them.
http://hubblesite.org/gallery/printshop/step1.php
Some online photolabs or photo stores may ask whether this image is copyrighted, since they are not allowed to print copyrighted material. Don't worry – our images have no copyright restrictions. We've created an Adobe PDF document that clearly states this. You may want to print this document out to take to the photo store, in case you are asked to prove that the image is copyright-free.
That's really cool that they let people have access to high res hubble images and let them print them.
Nice.
This is the design I've been working on...
ooOoo love it
ooOoo love it
Cheers! Can't wait to see what it'll look like printed..hopefully by the end of the week I'll find out.
Well the mat finally came 
Think the brightness of some of the stars might need lifting a bit but overall quite happy with it. The print quality is top notch and the quality of the vinyls really good too.
So...here's a few pics...let me know what you think.
that really pops! where'd you get the image and who did you work with on printing this on vinyl?
that really pops! where'd you get the image and who did you work with on printing this on vinyl?
The image I did from scratch in photoshop and a friend in the printing business sorted it out the print for me. There's a post I made earlier in this discussion regarding his prices and stuff.
Now I'm happy with the print quality and the vinyl I'm gonna get started on a new design that'll feature a planet.