Making Hex Grids for Mapping

[Max Kaladin]

Hi, I'm trying to make maps for tabletop RPGs (like D&D) and I'm trying to set up a hex grid (a honeycomb pattern, basically).   This is intended to be an overlay on top of a map I'm making.  Ideally, I'll have multiple grids in different sizes in different layers so I can turn the size I want on at any time, but first I need to get one grid right before worrying about that.  

What I have done is to use the polygon tool to make a hex with of the specific size (.25") I want.  Then I used the grid tool to make a triangular grid with the same size as the long diagonal (the distance between two opposite corners), which is .289" in this case.  I turned on snapping and tried copying a hex and moving it into position next to the other one but the snapping doesn't really seem to work right.  I'd expect it to line up perfectly and I can just place the symbol but when I try to move a hex into position it seems to be jumping around to various spots that are close to but not exactly in line with the other.  In particular, the diagonal sides seem to be hard to align.  If I zoom way in and fiddle, I can generally get it right but it's pretty time intensive to do that for each hex.  I've tried messing with the snapping settings but that hasn't really seemed to make a difference.  

I also suspect I'm going about duplicating this wrong.  I tried making a sort of mini grid by painstakingly placing several hexes and then copying all of them and moving them into place to make a bigger grid so I could then duplicate that group and basically keep working my way up to larger and larger sets of hexes but I find sometimes that the snapping doesn't work right for those either (even worse, in fact).  Plus, for making some grids this seems like it would get really unwieldy as I might have thousands of individual hexes to move.  At one point, the screen wasn't really keeping up with the updates due to the number of individual hexes I was moving at once.  I suspect there must be a way to collapse those into a single object but I can't figure out how. 

I'm looking for some suggestions about what I could do to get snapping to work better and to make the process of making large grids easier.  I'm pretty patient but if there is a better way than lots of patience, I'd love to hear it.  

I'm sorry if this is confusing but I'm not a designer so I'm sure I'm not using the right terms and I've never learned to use anything like Adobe (the closest is CAD based software).  There may be some really basic mistakes I'm making.  I'm not suggesting there is any problem with the product, but with the operator.  

I currently own Affinity Designer and have the trial of Affinity Designer 2.  Both on MacOS.  

Thank you.

[GarryP]

Welcome to the forums @Max Kaladin

As an alternative to the advice above, does my attached video help?

The ‘trick’ is to make the Spacing of the grid half the height of the hexagon – I used some easy to calculate numbers.
You can use a Triangular grid instead but the Isometric grid has fewer lines.
You can create multiple grids by saving them as Presets and switching between them via the Grids dialog (as far as I know there’s not an easier way to switch).
You might need to experiment with the snapping options to find out which are best to use (I generally have most of them switched on most of the time).

[henryanthony]

Pressing CTRL + j and selecting a hexagon will duplicate the hexagon. The duplicate will be on top of the original so it won't be visible.

Then, continue to hold CTRL down, release j and move the hexagon to its next position which, in this case could be snapped to the original hexagon.

Then continue to hold CTRL down and press j and the hexagon and the move will be duplicated.

You can create a row of hexagons quickly this way. 

Regarding the wonky snapping issue, I'm not having that problem. Also, you can approach this with or without the grid.

[Old Bruce]

On 2/3/2023 at 2:07 PM, Max Kaladin said:

I'm trying to set up a hex grid (a honeycomb pattern, basically).   This is intended to be an overlay on top of a map I'm making.  Ideally, I'll have multiple grids in different sizes in different layers so I can turn the size I want on at any time, but first I need to get one grid right before worrying about that.  

Easiest way to do this is to set up a document of the proper size and DPI that you will want. Make a grid using the triangle preset and set it to the proper size.

Turn on Snap to grid and have everything else off. Use the Pen tool and draw three sides of the hexagon. Duplicate it and move it up and over to form more of the hexagon

Group this and duplicate the group and repeat the "forming more of the hexagon".

Group this and Move to the corner and use the Power Duplicate to fill a row, shift and fill a second row etc.

Finally select all and group and apply a clear fill and an appropriate stroke to the group, this will clear every thing and give you the proper stroke.

[Max Kaladin]

Thanks, everyone!  I'm sorry it took so long to get back to this but life finds a way to interfere with hobbies.  

The advice above is helpful.  Some of those things were things I was already doing and some was new.  In particular, the CTRL-J trick and the trick of making the grid half the size I want were both useful. 

I've been doing some experimentation off and on and I find the above works as advertised some of the time.  The problem appears to be related to size.  What I mean by that is that if I made a hex grid and a hex of one size, everything works just like everyone is showing above.  If I do exactly the same thing, but make a different size, I get the weird snapping behavior and things are always just a bit off because of it.  In those cases, it appears that the hex itself is the wrong size ever so slightly even though the numbers on the screen say otherwise.  About the only thing I found that helped with this was changing from using inches for everything to using pixels.  I encounter the same problem but more rarely.  I think there is some rounding going on that's causing it since the precision is limited.  If I use sizes that round well, it's all fine but if not then I get the issue with snapping.  I expect I was encountering that a lot before in part because I am trying to make an overlay of a map of a known scale so I was calculating the exact size hex for the known scale and it's not a pretty number.  (Though, even there, when I tried making the same grid on a completely new document it suddenly worked right.)

Of course, the other thing I have not figured out yet is how to combine a bunch of symbols into one big symbol so I don't end up with a grid composed of thousands of individual hexes.  

Again, thank you all!

[henryanthony]

@Max Kaladin I would draw the hex as demonstrated by Old Bruce and duplicate as he did using Power Duplicate which is what Affinity calls the "j" method I showed. But, other than for the original drawing of the base hex component, get rid of the grid. 

Once you have created a matrix of hexagons, you can select all and change size using the Transform panel. But, change size using percentages instead of inches/mm, etc. worked for me. Everything stayed lined up and snapped properly.

I have not been able to get symbols to work with scaling though.

HTH

[Max Kaladin]

Sorry it took so long to get back to this but life intervenes.  Thank you for the advice.  I've found that making a hex or half hex by drawing with individual lines made all the difference.  Using the hex tool is what seems to cause all the problems I was having with snapping.  I note that when I select a hex made with the hex tool, it has a border around it that's wider than the actual hex while one I make with lines has borders that are exactly as high and wide as the hex I drew.  I suspect that's where the difference comes in.  

Making my own hex made all the difference and I was able to do what I wanted after that. Thank you all for your help!