DMs, do you have any finding images for tokens workflow advice?

I'm wasting a lot of my time trying to find images that aren't completely terrible. I'm tempted to go fully abstract and use chess pieces and a blank map like I'd do in real life. How well would that be received? An example of my workflow: I want to find a token to represent a boy npc. I use the in game search tool. The results are garbage except for premium ones that I'm not sure I want to invest in yet. I try searching for other things that might represent a child - "halfling" "gnome" - still garbage I search for "boy token" with google in a separate browser window and luck out and find something decent enough. I right click the image, and save it to my desktop. I rearrange my windows to be able to drag and drop it from my desktop to roll20. Is there a better place to look for tokens than google image search? Is it possible to skip the [save to desktop] -> [drag to roll20] step?

Also, is there anyway to lock a map image in place? I use the "align to grid" option which makes the image's grid and roll20's grid the same size, but then roll20 always aligns the two grids wrong. I then hold alt to move the map where I want. However, after that whenever I accidentally click on the backround image in the map layer roll20 will autosnap the map out of alignment which forces me to fix it again. How do I lock it or set the origin on the map image?

Hey Brian, and welcome to the wonderful world of Roll20! I feel your pain on the token search front; there was a time a couple years ago when the image search function was pretty good. Those days are gone. Today's search function is pretty universally considered virtually worthless, unless you're looking for Marketplace items. There is a LOT of great stuff in the Roll20 marketplace, but using it can get expensive. So, a lot of us have to rely on the search tools we have, and that's not much. I believe the main problem is the fact that Roll20 doesn't have a massive team of high-priced attorneys available to fight copyright lawsuits, and hence, has to act in a strongly defensive manner. Specifically, they do everything they can to ensure that copyrighted material is not officially allowed on the site. However, as you know, once the image is on your hard drive, you can import it as you like. This includes stuff that may or may not be officially 'allowed', but since nobody's gonna see it but you and your friends, who cares. So, like you, my image search setup is the following windows: Roll20 Google Image Search GIMP (to import the images I find, and convert them to .png as needed) My hard drive's Roll20 Images folder If I can't find something good on Roll20's search, I look on google. If I need to, I run it through GIMP to clean it up. Then I can just drag-and-drop into Roll20 as needed. I also maintain and frequently add to my supply of images, which I find just randomly surfing the intrawebz. I've got a folder just for battle maps, some for map-making pieces (like trees and boulders), some for tokens (monsters and PCs and whatever), and some just random stuff (weapons, backpacks, whatever). This helps a lot when building scenarios, and gives you a good supply of stuff to work with when all else fails. Good news, however, is the rumor that Roll20 is about to launch some sort of upgrade to their image search capabilities. I think a lot of us are looking forward to seeing what this turns out to be! Regarding locking into place, I don't think so, without the use of an API script I think I saw once (probably made by TheAaron.) My workaround for this is to build my maps on the token layer, then select-all to move things onto the map layer to 'lock' them into place. It still takes a bit of shuffling around to get the desired result, but it works. Hope this helps. -Phnord, The Guy Who Likes Maps A Lot

For locking the token in place (or at least preventing it from relocking to the grid, set it to "is an image" in the drop down menu for the image. It then won't care about the grid.

Brian M said: Is there a better place to look for tokens than google image search? Is it possible to skip the [save to desktop] -> [drag to roll20] step? Not that i've seen No. Making your own stuff will very very quickly become your solution. Tokens are easy - get a token overlay and then you can just throw images into photoshop (or gimp) and make your own tokens - Eventually you'll be able to make a token for almost anything in literally a minute or  two.  I've made hundreds of tokens now all using google.  (When you consider roll20 wants 4.99 for 10-20 tokens) i've saved about $70,00 bucks doing it this way. Maps on the other hand (good ones i should say) is a whole different story...that too i've taken to building in photoshop....further more, the more objects you have on the page, teh slower roll20 works.....so dont even put a single token on a page, other than for PCs or monsters. Scott C. said: For locking the token in place (or at least preventing it from relocking to the grid, set it to "is an image" in the drop down menu for the image. It then won't care about the grid. press and holding ALT while moving the token around does the same thing, and is less effortful.

Creating my map on the token layer helps a lot. You still have to "align to grid" the map image from the map layer, but adding trees and things from the object layer and then dropping them to the map layer helps prevent accidentally clicking on the map and causing it to autoalign itself wrong. Setting it to a drawing also works, but then you have to remember to not clear the drawings.

I'll add my voice to those who are suggesting making your own stuff using GIMP - I tend to steal textures that can tile seamlessly (for stone floors, grass, etc.) from video games or are already 'shopped to do so, and giving transparent backgrounds to items/tokens is pretty easy in most image editing programs. I tend to collect my images from Pinterest since there are boards there specifically curated for this purpose and I won't have to slog through the rest of Google Images to sift the wheat from the chaff (I'm super lazy AND picky), but as for locking stuff down I do the same as you and make everything on the Token layer, then drop it all down to the Map layer when I'm done. One of the other DMs I know outsourced the token/image making work to a friend/player who is currently learning graphic design and is happy to do the work if the DM actually puts the maps together and runs the game. Fair trade.