New to RPG Maker: adding more items to tilesets

[Bludiamonds]

Hi all, brand new to RPG Maker MZ (my significant other has used previous version 6 years ago, probably MV) and I'm looking to help him return to his gaming project. He is looking to do extensive customization on his maps and I've helped him gather some amazing tilesets and objects (shout out to all creators of content I've come across, such beautiful work ). Again I am brand new to this and I've been researching on how to go about this and understand tilesets and use different pieces I've gathered in my search.

In my understanding, you are only given 4 spots, B-E to place your tilesets for your items. I attempted add multiple items to one png image using Paint.net using the dimensions of 768 px wide, 16X16 grid, 72 ppi using a much longer length (from my readings you can have an indefinite length to your png images). However when I added the images to RPG maker database I experienced items getting cut off from the side or bottom. An example of this is using a windmill and other content created by PandaMaru. I created a test image in Paint.net with PandaMaru's windmill, hay pile and cottage with the properties of 768 px wide, 1500 px long, 72 ppi. The grid guide I used in Paint.net is 32 as 16 in the program did not appear correct. I placed the image itself in the B slot in my database for my map properties. I've heard about Tiled and VisuStella's mz plugin for same and I've installed them but from my understanding you would need to create your maps in Tiled and import them into RPG Maker?

I apologize for all these "noob" questions but I'd like to figure this out as soon as possible to get started on the project. Thank you so much for all your help!!

 

[Andar]

OK, the basics.
1)
A tileset consists of up to nine tilesheets. There are six different formats for tilesheets, usually called for their slot names, A1 to A5 and the sixth format for B-E-slots.
Each tilesheet has not only a fixed size, but differs in what type of tile can be placed where.

What is often done is using different tilesets for different maps - if you have buildings and a castle with a library, you don't need the sewer tiles on the same map after all.

2)
Some "tiles" you can find around here are NOT tilesheets at all, they are used for something called parallax mapping. You can usually identify parallax sheets by their large empty spaces between the tiles - after all, for regular tilesheets in the editor you want to have everything as close together as possible to not waste the limited space on the tilesheet.

However, parallax mapping is done in an image program outside the RM-Editor. there you select whatever parts you want from the parallax sheets to combine them to a background picture that is then used as the pseudo-map. this is much more work than tile-based mapping, but allows you to circumvent some tile limitations.
and because you have to select the parts for the parallax in an image program, the space around them helps in that case.

So your windmill would have to be reformatted in an image program, eliminating much of the empty space, before it could be used as a tilesheet in a regular tileset.

 

[Shaz]

from my readings you can have an indefinite length to your png images

This statement was only true of RPG Maker XP. Every version since has been fixed at 16x16 tiles for the B-E sheets and you cannot make them longer. Only the iconset length can be increased, but not the tiles.