Monopoly Template for Photoshop
Christmas time was fast approaching and the idea popped into my head to create a custom Monopoly game for my family. I remember seeing something for a “Make Your Own Opoly” game, but when i checked it out, I found out it’s whack. It only has 9 spaces per side instead of the official Monopoly’s 10, you have to print it out on your home computer, and just lacks the overall look and feel of the original game.
So began my quest to find a Monopoly template for Photoshop , something that I could just open up on in Photoshop, swap out the default titles with my own, and if I wanted to, redesign any element of the board. I can’t say I searched the 4 corners of the globe for a proper template, so the best I came up with was something that someone threw together quickly in a forum somewhere.
It was a good start, but the creator was rushing to do it quickly and overlooked a few things. So I took it into Photoshop, simplified a lot of the structure, and designed the board to mirror the original Monopoly design. I set the file at CMYK/300dpi and set the dimensions at 20in x 20in, the actual Monopoly board dimensions. However, Christmas time was fast approaching, so I didn’t have a whole lot of time to labor over every detail.
That being said, there are a few shortcomings with my template, but all of them can be fixed quickly. Here’s a quick list of them.
- No Mr. Moneybags. He wasn’t relevant to my project so he was left out.
- Didn’t have time to illustrate Luxury Tax, Guy in Jail, amongst other things.
- A lot of the dimensions are eyed-up and not necessarily exact measurements
- All the icons (electric company, trains, go, free parking, etc…) were drawn quite poorly in Photoshop. If I had more time, I would have properly illustrated them in a fancy program called Illustrator.
- The typefaces aren’t exactly proper, especially on the property cards. The main typeface is Kabel, which you have to pay for, so I used knockoff fonts that are similar, but not the original.
- The colors aren’t exactly correct, so you’d have to twiddle with them
All these shortcomings aside, the Monopoly template is pretty strong. Hopefully somebody else can take it to the next level! Leave a comment if you have any questions.
02/05/08
Well, I’m not the brightest crayon in the box BUT, I’m gonna try & figure this out! I think I have to get PHOTOSHOP first… anyway, I’m going to attempt making one for “cat shows” since those people are so freakin crazy, it should be funny (buy cattery houses
If I get it together & useable, I’ll let you know!
Thanks for your work,
Virginia
02/16/08
I have Photoshop but I cant open this file, it says file type is not correct. PLEASE HELP!!!
02/16/08
@Eli – Did you unzip the file? The file that is available to download is a .zip file. You must extract the files first. Here’s a link on how to do that. Once you have unzipped the folder, you should see several files within the folder, one of which is called “monopoly.psd” (.psd stands for PhotoShop Document). That is the file that will be read by Photoshop.
If you’ve already unzipped the folder and tried opening “monopoly.psd” and it still gives you the error message, it might have something to do with the version of Photoshop you have. To find out what version you have, open Photoshop and click Help>About Photoshop. Let me know what version you’re running. Hope this helps.
03/13/08
you can also use GIMP to open the file
GIMP is a freeware program
03/30/08
Hey – the board looks great, but am i right in seeing only one deed card in that zip file? Is there any way to get the rest?
03/30/08
@neil – The deeds are all there, but their layers are hidden and grouped into folders such as “purple,” “light blue,” “magenta,” etc. In order to view the other deeds in “the_property_cards.psd” you need to turn on the layers that you need to view using the layers palette. Let me know if you have any problems.
04/21/09
Would it be possible to also make it a jpg or somethingt that anyone can open?
05/05/09
Is there a copyright infringement? I am thinking of using on an invitation…thanks
06/05/09
Hello Brad,
I would thank you for providing this very useful template. It was exactly what I was searching for and is a beautiful and professional time saver. Opening in photoshop works finde.
Again lots of thanks !
Adrian
06/13/09
Thank-you this template was awesome and totally customizable in PS!
THANK-YOU
06/20/09
thanks for this great template. you’ve done a fabulous
job and have saved me hours of work. your generousity
in sharing is hugely appreciated.
07/23/09
This is exactly what I was looking for!!! Thaks a lot!!! Cheers!!
08/03/09
Thank you so much! This is exactly what I was looking for! I was afraid that I’d have to start start from scratch myself and I’m not THAT great with photoshop, so you’re a lifesaver!
08/05/09
umm, is it possible if u can make the file a jpg…
a person b4 asked too
THANK YOU!!!
08/09/09
Thanks so much… I have a friend who lost the Rescuers deed card for her game and was looking for a quick way to replace the card. Thanks so much for your efforts.
08/10/09
Hi Brad, I came across your Monopoly template a while back – trying as you did – to save some time with the basics, so I could focus my time on ideas. In a nutshell, I help others to learn eBay and thought by creating a board game, some people would learn the essentials in a fun way. Check out my blog where I have a picture of the gameboard “Monopol-eBay” and let me know what you think … maybe get a few ideas for interesting game cards
Here’s a link to the post: http://simplegreensalad.com/2009/06/our-first-essential-ebay-meetup-was-a-success/
08/10/09
… you don’t have to post this comment, when moderating, but there was a “big” thanks for saving me some time!
09/30/09
this blog form is whack lol. i hope you brush your teeth!
10/05/09
Wow, this was perfect and exactly what I was looking for!!! It saved me about a zillion hours in photoshop. Thanks so much! I customized the design as a present for my boyfriend’s birthday and have already had the board printed. Looks awesome! I’m struggling, however, with how and where to print the property cards. Any suggestions? I can’t seem to find cardstock heavier than 110#, and I’m afraid getting them printed and mounted onto matboard would make them too thick.
10/14/09
This is amazing!! thank you so very much! Is there anyway to upload pictures to the layering? I’m going to spend time messing around with it not entirely familiar with photoshop. If you arent busy it would be amazing to have a quick 5 step instructional. I’m already very thankful for the template.
10/31/09
Is there an easy way to “gut” your template in Photoshop leaving only the blocked out spaces and colors behind?
12/12/09
thank you very much! This was exactly what I needed – I had no idea something this clear and comprehensive was even out here until I stumbled on to your blog after hours of searching. You’re awesome!!
12/13/09
This template is amazing… Thanks!!!
12/14/09
Thank you so much for making this! I used it to create a board based off of the video game Fallout 3. Could not have done it nearly so easily without this. Very well organized. Check it out here
http://swanboy.deviantart.com/art/Fallout-3-Monopoly-145365574
12/17/09
Thank you….. so much.
12/17/09
Brad,
This is awesome!!!!
Thanks so much for sharing! My customized board will be a big hit at my annual X-mas eve bash!
cheers,
Ralph
01/28/10
I would like to use this template but it will not open for me. Is it possible for you to email it to me or have it unzipped in the link?
01/28/10
Hi Sara, the link is updated with the new path to the zip. Have fun and thanks for the heads up!
02/07/10
Thank You!