Best regional map size from Wonderdraft for Roll20?

Hey guys,  I just got Wonderdraft so I can make a map of a continent in my world but I'm unsure of the best pixel size for it. I want it to have plenty of detail but i also don't want the size to be bigger than 5mb. If anyone is familiar with Wonderdraft, which option would be best to choose you think?  Originally i was thinking of a portrait style 1080x1920 but not so sure. 

If plenty of detail is your want, choose the size at which you are happy with the level of detail in wonderdraft and be prepared to do some afterwork in photoshop or gimp or another image editor. For example: halve the size, cut up the image, or make a high level small version with some detailed subparts. i always make my maps at 140 dots per grid and then shrink them 50% when needed. You can always shrink an image and loose detail, it is harder to do it the other way down.

For larger maps like that, I have been using the 4k template, which is 3840x2160.  The main thing to keep in mind is that Wonderdraft exports images as .png by default.  If you export them as jpg or convert them from png to jpg afterwards with GIMP, Photoshop, or whatever, that generally ends up with a 2-3mb image in my experience. Edit:  I don't use a grid overlay in Wonderdraft, though I do put a scale on the map, so that I can set the measurement scale in Roll20 to match.

Kraynic said: For larger maps like that, I have been using the 4k template, which is 3840x2160.  The main thing to keep in mind is that Wonderdraft exports images as .png by default.  If you export them as jpg or convert them from png to jpg afterwards with GIMP, Photoshop, or whatever, that generally ends up with a 2-3mb image in my experience. Edit:  I don't use a grid overlay in Wonderdraft, though I do put a scale on the map, so that I can set the measurement scale in Roll20 to match. Thanks a lot, your response is very helpful! I was thinking the same thing about 4k.

Martijn S. said: If plenty of detail is your want, choose the size at which you are happy with the level of detail in wonderdraft and be prepared to do some afterwork in photoshop or gimp or another image editor. For example: halve the size, cut up the image, or make a high level small version with some detailed subparts. i always make my maps at 140 dots per grid and then shrink them 50% when needed. You can always shrink an image and loose detail, it is harder to do it the other way down. I appreciate your help. Do you know what the default dpi is for Wonderdraft without the 300dpi option? 

Pro Tip: If you do wind up assembling your map in Roll20 out of smaller pieces, also prepare a composite map at really low resolution, even 5-10 pixels per square. It really needs almost nothing in terms of quality, so a high compression jpeg is fine. Once you have you map assembled, upload that one, size it to match your pieced-together map and send it to the back. This has two benefits: 1) Certain zoom levels may produce an artifact where edges may not seem to line up. Having the image behind of roughly the same color will make those disappear. 2) It will appear first on load. On very slow connections this will let players realize that an image is there, and that the real images are still loading. 3) Most important: The thumbnail for the map on the page toolbar is created from the largest image on the page. Largest in terms of page real estate, not pixel dimensions or file size. So your thumbnail will be of the assembled map, no one of the pieces. Several of the poster maps in Roll20 are done this way, Example: the map of Waterdeep in Dragon Heist.

keithcurtis said: Pro Tip: If you do wind up assembling your map in Roll20 out of smaller pieces, also prepare a composite map at really low resolution, even 5-10 pixels per square. It really needs almost nothing in terms of quality, so a high compression jpeg is fine. Once you have you map assembled, upload that one, size it to match your pieced-together map and send it to the back. This has two benefits: 1) Certain zoom levels may produce an artifact where edges may not seem to line up. Having the image behind of roughly the same color will make those disappear. 2) It will appear first on load. On very slow connections this will let players realize that an image is there, and that the real images are still loading. 3) Most important: The thumbnail for the map on the page toolbar is created from the largest image on the page. Largest in terms of page real estate, not pixel dimensions or file size. So your thumbnail will be of the assembled map, no one of the pieces. Several of the poster maps in Roll20 are done this way, Example: the map of Waterdeep in Dragon Heist. Thanks a lot for the valuable information! I'm sure my map will go through more iterations to make it more ideal.

This would be a great size for a regional map in Roll20.  I mean, this is a generous size, that's just about right for a lot of situations & is flexible.  Not so big that would break Roll20 or exceed limits, but plenty large enough to accommodate whatever amount of detail. This can either still look good at 200% zoom, or you can stretch it a lot in Roll20 (bigger than the native 3800x2100, probably double that) and won't notice any loss of quality at 100% in the browser canvas. You could plop/center something like this on a 120x100 page of Roll20 (a big map page), leaving some padding/margins on all sides for notes / tokens / map keys / helps with zoom when looking at map extents. Kraynic said: For larger maps like that, I have been using the 4k template, which is 3840x2160.  ... generally ends up with a 2-3mb image in my experience.

keithcurtis said: Pro Tip: If you do wind up assembling your map in Roll20 out of smaller pieces, also prepare a composite map at really low resolution, even 5-10 pixels per square. It really needs almost nothing in terms of quality, so a high compression jpeg is fine. Once you have you map assembled, upload that one, size it to match your pieced-together map and send it to the back. This has two benefits: 1) Certain zoom levels may produce an artifact where edges may not seem to line up. Having the image behind of roughly the same color will make those disappear. 2) It will appear first on load. On very slow connections this will let players realize that an image is there, and that the real images are still loading. 3) Most important: The thumbnail for the map on the page toolbar is created from the largest image on the page. Largest in terms of page real estate, not pixel dimensions or file size. So your thumbnail will be of the assembled map, no one of the pieces. Several of the poster maps in Roll20 are done this way, Example: the map of Waterdeep in Dragon Heist. Sounds like a stupid trick to me! :D (Or it could be added to your ' Precautions to Take With Very Large Maps ' item you had before).  Either way, I'm definitely saving this for later! I didn't realize that point about the largest image being the one that becomes the thumbnail, which answers some questions I've wondered about test pages I've created.