HOWTO MAKE YOUR OWN HEROSCAPE CUSTOM ARMY CARDS
 Version 1.2

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Take the steps in the following tutorial to learn to use the basic tools in the Gimp image editor program. There are many steps and it may seem daunting at first, but after a few times of running through this tutorial you will be well on your way creating custom cards and figuring out your own graphics tricks and shortcuts.

Install the free open-source Gimp image editor onto your computer, by going to the Gimp website and downloading the latest version for your platform (Windows, Linux or Mac).

You will also want to download the following images to your computer...

• Blank cards and overlays
• Guide images
• Miscellaneous images

Now, lets get started making your first custom card...

STEP 1

Run "The Gimp" and load one of the blank card template images.

• Gimp -> File -> Open
• Browse to where you've copied the blank card images
• Click "Open" for whichever card type you wish to make (I will be using blank_einar_card.jpg for this tutorial)

STEP 2

Load the image of your figurine and select the area around it and make it transparent.

• Gimp -> File -> Open
• Once again, browse to and open the figurine image you wish to use
• You can use the knight.jpg image file from the Miscellaneous images for practice purposes
• GimpImage -> Layer -> Transparency -> Add Alpha Channel
• Select the "Select contiguous regions" tool from the Gimp (the 4th button on the top row of tool buttons)
• Now select portions of the figurine image which you want to be transparent (hold the Shift key while clicking areas if you wish to add to your selection)
• GimpImage -> Edit -> Clear
• Isolating the image from the background depends on how varied the background is, making it the best to use images with white or otherwise easily distinguishable backgrounds
• Your figurine should now look something like what you see below. Save this modified figurine image as a PNG file (with .png extension)
• GimpImage -> File -> Save As

STEP 3

Copy and paste the figurine into your blank card template and scale it.

• Click on the "Select rectangular regions" tool (the 1st button on the top row of tool buttons)
• GimpImage -> Select -> All
• GimpImage -> Edit -> Copy
• Switch to your card image.
• GimpImage -> Edit -> Paste Into
• Click on the "Scale the layer or selection" tool (the 2nd button on the 3rd row of tool buttons)
• Grab an edge of the figurine image and drag it to a size that looks good, then click "Scale" on the dialog box

STEP 4

Place the figurine image above the stats.

• Click on the "Move layers & selections" tool (the 5th button on the 2nd row of tool buttons)
• Drag the figurine image to an appropriate location on the background above the stats and do not worry if portions are going over the edges
• Optional step - use the "Airbrush" tool (the 6th button on the 4th row) to add appropriately colored mist around the legs or bottom area of your character (this step is not shown in this tutorial)

STEP 5

Load the corresponding blank overlay image for your card.

• Gimp -> File -> Open
• Browse to where you've copied the blank card images
• Open the image file "blank_einar_overlay.png" (or whichever corresponds to your chosen blank template)
• GimpImage -> Select -> All
• GimpImage -> Edit -> Copy
• Close this overlay image

STEP 6

Copy and paste the overlay onto your card.

• Go back to your custom card image
• GimpImage -> Edit -> Paste Into
• You should now notice that the portions of the figurine that previously stuck out beyond the background borders are covered

STEP 7

Use the blur tool to clean up the edges of the figurine.

• GimpImage -> Image -> Flatten Image
• You may want to zoom in a bit for this next part
• Click on the "Zoom in & out" tool (the 3rd button on the 2nd row of tool buttons)
• Click on the figurine to zoom in as close as you want and select "Zoom out" in the magnify tab below the tool buttons and click on the image to zoom back out
• Click on the "Blue or Sharpen" tool (the 3rd button on the 5th row of tool buttons)
• Now trace around the edges of the figurine to blend it more into the background if required... this will often hide any edge artifacts

STEP 8

Add some stats.

• Click on the "Add text to the image" tool (the 6th button on the 3rd row of tool buttons)
• Click the little arrow between the black and white color boxes to flip foreground/background colors
• Change your Font to "Sans Bold" in the Text tab below
• Change the Size to 21
• Click above the LIFE stat directly below the figure
• Type 5 (or whatever LIFE value you wish) and then close the "Gimp Text Editor" window
• Now switch to the "Move layer & selections" tool again and drag your LIFE value so it looks centered above the word LIFE
• Repeat this application of numbers to all the stats and finally the POINTS value

STEP 9

Add card name, classifications and special rules.

• Repeat the process of adding text for the card title (Sans Bold, size 20) and the left side classification text (Sans, Size 16 or Size 14, whichever fits best)
• Repeat the same process again for the special abilities title (Sans Bold, size 16) and description (Sans, size 16)
• I personally like using the Sans and Sans Bold fonts, but you may prefer some other font and style

Your card should now look something like this...

Only the zones image on right side is still missing.

STEP 10

Load your figurine image and select his outline.

• Re-open your figurine image
• Select the "Select contiguous regions" tool and click somewhere in the area outside of the figure
• GimpImage -> Select -> Invert
• Only your figurine image should now be selected
• Gimp -> File -> Open
• Browse to where you copied the Guide images
• Open the image file "hit_zone_colors.jpg"
• Click on the "Pick colors from the image" tool (the 2nd button on the 2nd row of tool buttons)
• Click inside the red hit zone circle to select the proper red color

STEP 11

Fill the figurine with red.

• Switch back to your card image
• GimpImage -> Edit -> Fill with FG Color
• Notice that I also edited out the base under the figures feet... this can be done by selecting rectangular or oval regions under the feet and using "GimpImage -> Edit -> Clear" to erase those areas

STEP 12

Draw a grey dividing line between hit and non-hit zones.

• Switch to the "hit_zone_colors.jpg" image
• Click on the "Pick colors from the image" tool and click within the grey circle
• Switch back to your card image
• Click on the "Paint hard edged pixels" tool (the 3rd button on the 4th row of tool buttons)
• Draw dividing lines between hit and non-hit zones on your red figurine image (you may want to select a smaller Brush size for this)

STEP 13

Fill in non-hit zone with grey and add green eye zone.

• Click on the "Fill with color or pattern" tool (the 1st button on the 4th row of tool buttons)
• Click any red areas on your figurine which should be non-hit zones to make them grey
• Using the same procedure as before for picking color (from the "hit_zone_colors.jpg" image), select green
• Click on the "Paint hard edged pixels" tool and set your Brush to Circle (19)
• Click once in the center of your figures head to make the eye zone

STEP 14

Copy and paste figurine into your card, then resize and place it.

• GimpImage -> Select -> All
• GimpImage -> Edit -> Copy
• Close your figurine image and switch to your card image
• GimpImage -> Edit -> Paste Into
• Resize the figurine using the "Scale the layer or selection" tool as you did before so that it will fit within the borders of the black area on the right of the card
• Drag the figurine into place using the "Move layers & selections" tool as you did before
• GimpImage -> Image -> Flatten Image
• GimpImage -> File -> Save As
• Name your new custom card appropriately and save

Your finished card should look something like this...

Hints and tips

• If you find yourself being unable to use some tool, it is usually because you are trying to manipulate an area outside the currently selected layer... to fix this, just do "GimpImage -> Image -> Flatten Image" and try your tool again
• If you still find yourself being unable to use a certain tool, it sometimes helps to save the image, close it, and re-open it again
• With time you will learn to better manipulate images using The Gimp but there are numerous resources on the Internet for using The Gimp if you find yourself getting stuck
• When you print your custom cards, use 4.85 inches (123mm) for the width setting and 4.58 inches (116mm) for the height setting

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