Background - [EBPEdit Help Contents]
The background is the image that appears behind the mileposts, track, and other drawn elements. EBP does not require that you include a background image with your map: it's window dressing. The background image is stored in the XXXbgnd.jpg file. Create and edit the background image with the photo/graphics editing software of your choice.
DURING DEVELOPMENT
While you are creating your map, consider preparing a temporary XXXbgnd.jpg, where XXX is the three-character base name of your map. You might employ a scanner to prepare a picture from your favorite on-paper map. Copy the file into the same directory as your map, and when you next load the map for editing, EBPEdit will display it in the background of the map editing area; during development this will help you position elements such as cities and rivers.
The background has no function other than as a guide or for beautification: EBPEdit does not automatically detect elements from the background, such as coastline or rivers, but you can manually trace over these elements so EBPEdit (and then EBP) will know their location.
To see the background, enable the Bgnd Image checkbox at the upper left of the map window. If no background image appears when you enable the checkbox, it is because the image file does not exist. If you modify the image (such as via graphics editor software) concurrent with map editing in EBPEdit, to load the updated version, simply uncheck and recheck the Bgnd Image checkbox.
Instead of JPG, you can also employ GIF or BMP formats for your image. EBP automatically looks for XXXbgnd.jpg first, then XXXbgnd.gif next, and finally XXXbgnd.bmp.
FOR RELEASE
When it comes time to release your map, you can replace your guide image with a nicer looking background image. EBPEdit does not have image editing features; you will need a photo/graphics editor. However, it can help you get started: use EBPEdit's File...Save as .BMP feature to copy the current map view into a .BMP file. Open the resulting .BMP image with your graphics editor, and employ it as a reference for creating the nicer looking background aligned with your cities and regions.
For best results in EBP, with your graphics editor we recommend sizing your background image to 1200 pixels wide by 800 pixels high, or roughly a 3:2 ratio. A size of 1024 x 768, a 4:3 ratio, is also acceptable. EBP automatically stretches the image to fit the map window, the size and shape of which is ultimately chosen by the EBP end user. Consequently, do not worry too much about, for example, making circular areas true circles since EBP will stretch the image to match the end user's preferred map window width and height selections, which will distort circles into ellipses.