Making Board and Tile Pieces advice

So I've got some nice PDF floor plans and the like and thought I'd get them onto foamcore, cut them out and have some modular map pieces.

But the photo paper I've tried never "sticks", one finger and its smeared, even if its been dry for a few days. I tried sticking clear plastic over the top but that can also be a bit glossy

just thought I'd ask for some tips from anyone experienced with this, the whole thing like

- best combo of paper to go with the foamcore
- print settings / type (I can look for a print shop or use works for example)
- sticky backed paper, or even sticky backed photo paper, but a type that holds the colour fast?
- any other tips or products?

LaserJet instead of InkJet. The printer makes all the difference in the world on this one. LaserJets burn the toner onto the page and that sets it. I was pleasantly surprised when one of my LaserJet print pages got wet and the color stayed right where it was supposed to.

LaserJets are a little pricey but I'll tell you what -- if you're printing a lot of color they save you money in the long run because InkJet toner is the most expensive liquid on the face of the Earth. Likely not what you want to hear, but InkJets just aren't designed to create durable pages.

S.

If you need to use InkJet and don't need photo-quality results, here's what works for me (not necessarily for foamcore, but in general):

1. Get decent-quality label paper, but don't spend a lot. You aren't going to get photo-quality results on any kind of label paper, so don't spend money like you're going to. The Avery stuff is good, but it's $40 for 100 sheets . This more off-brand stuff is $7.99 for 100 sheets. The Avery stuff isn't 5x as good. Maybe 1.5x or 2x if you skew your rating based on how much you spent.
2. Print in high-quality, but make sure your paper settings are equivalent to plan white boring paper. Let that shit dry for a while. Print at least one test page; label paper can soak up the ink a little bit and your colors might appear slightly darker than expected.
3. Once it's dry, cut it out and stick it on stuff.
4. If you need it to be more durable and not wear down, a thin layer or two of Krylon Crystal Clear Acrylic Coating (or similar) should do the trick.

Like I said, I haven't used this with foamcore, but I've used it on different types of backing and board to replace chits, tiles, hexes, etc in games. With a little practice it can look pretty damn good. For reference I use an Epson Workforce 635 printer, and I probably ran about 8 pages of the cheaper label paper through until I found print settings I was happy with.

The only reason I haven't bought a color laser jet is because I wore out the last two HP office-grade laserjets I bought before they ran out of their first toner cartridge. I don't think they liked all the heavy-weight paper I was feeding through them or something. My Epson Workforce has held up well, in spite of the cost of ink.

I get images printed at a local print shop that has a high-quality colour printer.

Then I glue them to thick illustration board (available at any art store) using 3M Super 77 spray glue.

Then I cut out the pieces (rotary cutter is best but any exacto works fine) and put a coat or two of Krylon transparent acrylic spray (I use the low odour kind).

The results are great.

The main cost is the printing. The cans of glue and acrylic last a long time.

This is the easy way:

Print on 80# cardstock or photo paper. Spray 3M 77 Super Adhesive in th back, laminate to foamcore. Spray Krylon 1311 Matte Finish on the front to seal color. Let first coat dry 8 hours, 2 minutes after each other coat.

Cut, play.

Edit..Hatch beat me to the Submit!

Here's another vote for card stock and 3M spray.

Awesome, see we have a massive colour laser at work and i can't imagine that's not a high end one in terms of quality, I will look it up on Monday. I'd imagined printing onto label paper and then laminating but this Krylon stuff sounds good if it sets properly dry, but I guess normal paper or thick paper/card is OK with the 3M spray mount on the back side. I'd probably whack it onto foamcore and exacto it out so I have like A4 pieces, rather than fanny around with individual bits

I had to print and cut all my Warhammer Quest stuff after losing my original copy. I used an inkjet printer, 110 lb. cardstock and attached it to black foamcore with spray adhesive. I then sprayed a matte varnish on the tiles to seal the color.

Easy peasy.