How To Create A Tiling Grid

-Article-

Creating A Mural Tiling Grid Using Corel Draw Version 8, 9 or 10

Written by: Ernie Ziegler, Memories On Tile , January 2003

Here's a fast way to make a tiling grid for any size mural, using any equal size of tile.

Note: The tiles in the mural/grid must be all the same size. A slightly different procedure ( a future article) must be used to create a tiling grid utilizing mixed sizes of tile in the same mural/grid.

Decisions to be made:

1. Determine the size of your mural.

2. Determine what size tile you're going to use.

3. Decide if your mural will be in "portrait" or "landscape" position.

4. Divide the horizontal length of your mural by the tile size. The answer is the number of grid boxes/tiles per row.

5. Divide the vertical height of your mural by the tile size. The answer is the number of grid boxes/tiles per column

For purposes of this tutorial lets assume:

1. Mural size is 12 x 18 inches.

2. Tile size is 6 x 6 inches.

3. Mural will be in "landscape" position. That is the 18inch dimension will run horizontal.

4. Eighteen (18) divided by six (6) equals three (3) Therefore there will be three (3) grid boxes/tiles per row.

5. Twelve (12) divided by six (6) equals two (2) Therefore there will be two (2) grid boxes/tiles per column.

Creating The Grid

STEP 1

Open Corel Draw and start a new drawing.

You need to set a page size slightly larger than your mural size. For this tutorial your mural size is 12 x 18 inches, let's make the page size 16 x 22 inches. This is accomplished by using the "Property Bar", located at the top of your screen.

Set the "paper width" to "22 inches" and the "paper height" to "16 inches" for a horizontal style mural.

STEP 2

From the "Tool Bar", located to the left of your screen, select the "Graph Paper Tool" on the "Fly Out" menu.

On the "Property Bar", set the "Graph Paper Rows and Column" settings. Set the "Rows" at two (2) and the "Columns" at three (3).

STEP 3

Position the cursor in the upper left hand corner of the page, click and hold the down the left mouse button and drag the cursor towards the lower right hand corner of the page. Release the mouse button. You will now have a grid composed of six (6) boxes.

STEP 4

Select the "Pick Tool" from the "Tool Bar" and your "Object Settings" should appear in the "Property Bar".

Set the "Width" setting to eighteen (18) inches and the "Height" setting to twelve (12) inches.

STEP 5

With the grid selected, click "Arrange" on the "Menu Bar" and on the "Drop Down Menu" click "Ungroup"

Immediately click "Arrange" on the "Menu Bar" and on the "Drop Down Menu" click "Combine".

You now have the "Tiling Grid" for your mural.

STEP 6

Save this "Master Tiling Grid" to a "File" of your choosing.

NOTE; For my own use I created a "Folder" titled "Mural Grids" and I save all my grids to that folder.

WHAT'S NEXT

For how to use the grid see the tutorial: "Preparing Your Mural for Printing"

NOTES: At this time there is no need for setting your grid to account for overlap. The article "Preparing Your Mural for Printing" will provide for full bleed and matching, whether you're using "Tiles with Spacers" or "Spacerless Tiles".

This procedure can be used for any size tiles; just refer to step 4 above and set your grid sizes based on multiples of your tile size.

CREDITS

The elements for this procedure were drawn from message #2293.15 on the DSSI Forum, as posted by Coloristic who kindly gave me permission to use it as a basis for this tutorial. Thank you.