Hi everyone, I'm a newbie to the site and to mapping.

I'd like some feedback on scaling.

I'm interested in RPG maps for use in VTTs (my own to be precise), so scaling suitable for maps containing top down figure images. I think the term I've seen used is "Battle Maps".

I've purchased a few from roll20.net, and the standard there is 140px per 5', or 2 and 1/3 pixels per inch. I find this a little blurred in terms of the detail, and especially close up. It also doesn't look grand with certain textures.

I prefer an 8 pixels per inch scale, although I confess Photoshop is "slow" at 100' square on my i7, and I've switched to 4px/inch.

What scales do you use, and why?

I'm also using Filter Forge for my textures, and I have to say it's damn slow to render at even 4px/inch.

Also products like Genetica and Filter Forge seem completely ignorant of mapping use, in that scaling is either covered badly or covered in a bizarre way. It seems crazy that I need to use a spreadsheet to do something that would be trivial to build into the product.

What products do you use, and how do you find them?

Thanks in advance.