Nine choices or sixteen: choose the shape of your story
FORMAT DESK / LAYOUT & OUTPUT
Nine slots ask you to choose. Sixteen let you build chapters. Neither layout turns a longer list into a clearer idea by itself.
| Question | 3 × 3 / nine slots | 4 × 4 / sixteen slots |
|---|---|---|
| What does it suit? | One selection rule, one memory, or a compact introduction to your taste. | Four chapters, a longer retrospective, or a comparison across periods. |
| Where is the focus? | A single center in slot five can anchor the board. | No single center tile; rows or pairs make clearer anchors. |
| How should notes behave? | One specific thought per choice. | One specific thought per choice, with extra care about reading density. |
| PNG dimensions | 1440 × 1600 pixels. | 1920 × 2080 pixels. |
| A4 print check | Check the bottom row and longest note. | Check every row and the smaller physical text size especially carefully. |
Try the nine-word test
Give every proposed entry a short reason. If entries ten through sixteen add new chapters, consider 4×4. If they repeat the first nine reasons, make a focused 3×3 and save the alternatives for another board. This is an editing exercise, not a scoring formula.
For the taste map, the center can hold The Mapmaker’s Pause and the note about exploring without a clock. For the year collection, four rows can mark beginnings, changing habits, summer routines, and an open-ended final chapter. A single central favorite would be less useful there.
Make another version before changing the frame
Duplicate a board before trying a different layout. When reducing sixteen entries to nine, decide which seven belong in the longer edition and keep that edition saved or backed up. Switching to nine slots hides entries ten through sixteen without deleting their data; switching back reveals them. PNG, captions and printing use the visible layout, while JSON keeps all sixteen slots.
Switching from unranked to ranked changes how the reader interprets positions. It does not decide the order for you. Read the full sequence from the top-left corner to the bottom-right before exporting.
More pixels are not a cure for soft artwork
PNG export uses 480 pixels per column: three columns produce 1440 pixels of width and four produce 1920. The full composition includes its header and footer. Locally processed artwork remains limited to a 512-pixel longest edge, so a bigger output cannot invent cover detail.
At 300 pixels per inch, 1440 × 1600 is about 122 × 135 mm and 1920 × 2080 is about 163 × 176 mm. These are arithmetic examples, not a print-quality guarantee. Browser printing uses its own A4 layout; it is a separate result to inspect.
A short output diagnosis
- The PNG has the wrong dimensions: check the active board and selected layout, then create a fresh export. An older download may still be in the downloads folder.
- The image looks tiny in a message preview: open the actual file. A messaging app may show a reduced thumbnail or recompress an upload.
- The print preview adds a page: check A4 portrait, margins, scale, and browser headers and footers. Inspect every page after each change.
- A PDF exists but the bottom row is missing: return to print preview and correct the layout; file creation alone does not prove a complete print.
Start with nine Start with sixteen