Create tile mural - grid, vector and sizing questions

[Giverly of Dunbar]

I’m new to Affinity Designer. Last year I created a kitchen tile splash back using Procreate and Photoshop.

This year I’m planning a larger bathroom tile mural. I think it would be more manageable file wise to do it in Affinity Designer with vectors. My main question is, can I start out with a grid which will be easy to print as separate pages at the end? Create a measured by inch/cm grid and then slice? Is it possible to do rectangles eg 8x10” or will I need to find square ceramic tiles for this? 

I created the separate elements in Procreate then assembled the large mural image in Photoshop last time. Then it was a big old pfaff to break it up again into the specific tile size. My version of Photoshop didn’t allow me to slice it up in the programme. I think I ended up using this online tool  https://pinetools.com/split-image

I could divide the image up at the end again but the main disadvantage is that I won’t know where the breaks between tiles will be. It will be levelling up if I can sketch the layout around the tiles to start with. I suspect you also lose image quality splitting images using a free online tool.

Also I’m a bit confused about vector brushes. If I use vector brushes, will my image be scalable, so my initial file size could be say 1/10 of the wall? Or should I create a file to start with which is actually the size of the bathroom wall? It seems like some people are saying that the vector brushes aren’t truly vectors and go pixelated when enlarged.

[Giverly of Dunbar]

Should I be using Guides rather than a grid? And can I then slice to the guide to export or print?

Edited March 23, 2022 by Giverly of Dunbar

[BarKeegan]

I think some vector brushes can be ‘outlined’ or if they’re a stroke, set to scale up. If this was a print project for a billboard, your file dimensions wouldn’t have to reflect the scale of the actual billboard, usually about 25% of the final size. Some print jobs would require that you supply a separate guide file if a larger image had to be cut up (eg: a jigsaw), I think a ‘spot’ colour is usually selected for these types of guides, which could be in the form of cut/print marks. Also, are you sublimating these onto tiles?

[Giverly of Dunbar]

@BarKeegansorry I didn’t see notification of a reply.

Yes we’re doing it all ourselves, so no need to send to an external printer or communicate with anyone else what I’m trying to achieve. We have the sublimation equipment, just a case of sending to our sublimation printer. But I need to break the final image up into the tile sizes myself.

I need them to end up as actually separate tile sized files, or easy to select print areas. Last time I completed the picture in Procreate/Photoshop and then broke it up into separate tile sized image files at the end. But it meant the tile edges were sometimes inconvenient for the overall picture and it was a big pfaff at the end. 

I’m not sure what spot colour is. 

[BarKeegan]

Off the top of my head, I think you’re best to create a precise grid of squares over the entire image (you can construct as strokes and convert to grid), then create multiple copies of the overall image equal to the amount of tiles, then crop - export each part of the grid multiple times. The tiles should align afterwards