Heraldic Art Resources

WARNING: Do not cite this page as a reference. This page is on this wiki only to make the content "searchable" and easier to find. If you find the information you seek here, go to the original sources to verify the information and use them for your documentation.

SCA Graphic Libraries:

• Book of Traceable Heraldic Art - http://heraldicart.org/ Fabulous successor to the Pennsic Traceable Art Project. Includes nearly 3,000 standardized images rendered in SVG, PNG, and print-and-trace PDF formats for offline use. Material drawn from Viking Answer Lady, Pennsic Traceable Art Project, Edwardian-era texts like Fox-Davies, and period armorials.

• Pictorial Dictionary of Heraldry Often called the "PicDic." Compiled by Bruce Draconarius. Authoritative commentary.

• Viking Answer Lady - (a goodly number of images)

• Pennsic Traceable Art Project - As noted by the Brickbat Herald: "Compiled by Ailis Linne. This project was begun as a response to the volume of heraldic art being sought every year at the consult table at Pennsic. Some of the depictions are problematic or no longer registerable." [These are noted on the PTAP index on this wiki, as linked to here.]

• Colblaith's Armory Blanks (includes period mantling and doodle sheets)

• Catalogue Of Period Devices As noted by the Brickbat Herald: "Compiled by William Castille. This book contains over 1300 blazons and emblazons of period devices taken from a number of period rolls of arms that found on Brian Timms early rolls of arms website (http://www.briantimms.com\era\early rolls of arms.htm). They are all black and white outline as the object of the collection is to give people an idea of what period style is. This book is supplied free of charge and may be freely copied and distributed. It is not to be sold for profit. Be Warned: the zipfile is over 6meg in size and expands to a pdf file." Unfortunately, this page is no longer online; we are searching for a copy of the PDF that we can share.

Non-SCA Graphic Resources:

• Fox-Davies' A Complete Guide to Heraldry (wikisource.org) - http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/A_Complete_Guide_to_Heraldry

• Free Heraldry Clipart - As noted by the Brickbat Herald: "Compiled by James Wolf. Many of the pieces come from Fox-Davies and Pimbley, both Victorian-era heraldic artists, and some depictions aren't quite accurate for our heraldic scope (for example, the "wavy" seen here is hardly wavy at all), but there are a lot of images, arranged alphabetically."

• Parker's A Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry - http:karlwilcox.com/parker/

• Wikimedia Commons: Heraldry - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Heraldry (lots of graphics, includes some out-of-period art but labeled so you know what is what)

Branch Armory

• An Armorial of Precedence Arms of every kingdom and barony in the knowne world.

• Effingham's Heraldic Avatars - Arms of Kingdoms and SCA (Web Archive link; original page offline)

Drawing Programs

(Programs mentioned by Heralds, in no particular order, no official endorsement implied, buyer beware, etc.)

Specific for Emblazoning:

• DrawShield - http://www.karlwilcox.com/drawshield/create/ (a little awkward to use)

Generic Vector Drawing Programs:

• Inkscape, a free and open-source program for creating vector graphics. Many tutorials can be found around the internet as well. Inkscape can open and save PDF files, so it's excellent for dropping line art into submission forms. (Linux, Windows, Mac.)
• Adobe Illustrator CC, a popular commercial drawing package. (Windows and Mac. Multiple pricing plans, including $240/year.)
• Corel Draw (Windows. $350.)
• Microsoft Visio is a technical diagramming tool that can also be used for armory. Can export images to SVG and other formats. (Windows. Multiple pricing plans, including $180/year.)
• OmniGraffle is similar to Visio. (Mac. Versions for $99 and $199.)

Generic Bitmap Drawing Programs:

• GIMP, a free and open-source program for creating bitmap graphics, which can do pretty much everything most people would need Adobe Photoshop for, although with a very different interface. (Linux, Windows, Mac.)
• Adobe Photoshop CC, a popular commercial painting package. (Windows and Mac. Multiple pricing plans, including $120/year.)
• Pixlr X, free online image editing programs. (Web-based.)
• Paint.net, another free bitmap editing program. (Windows.)
• AutoDesk Sketchbook, free. (Windows and Mac.)
• Corel PaintShop Pro. (Windows. Versions for $64 and $80.)
• MS Paint