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Table of Contents
Resources : Tools for creating illustrated AH content
A collection of resources that might come in handy when you decide to create various visual material for your alternate history-themed works.
1. Free graphics software
2. Textures and other useful graphic templates
Flag and Vexilological Resources
Map and Cartographic Resources
A thread with open source textures useful for creating textured flags
Generic template for a British colonial flag (empty dark blue field and a Union Jack in the canton)
A set of event icons for maps (download link; + key to icon meanings link), courtesy of Thomas27
Photoshop files useful for artworks in political TLs (includes Download Link), courtesy of Jay Roosevelt
Public Domain Vectors.org - Royalty-free vector clip art and graphics.
3. Websites
Scrontch's Flag Designer - Fun with online flag randomizer...
Parliament Diagram Generator - Very useful tool, primarily intended for Wikipedia templates, but generally useful. See this page for Westminster-style parliamentary diagrams.
Clonezone.link - Website editor that you can use to edit real websites to make fake ones, if anyone needs help with making fake websites.
Blueprints.com - A site with thousands of schematics for various civilian and military vehicles. Probably no fictional models, but you can download the schematics and use them as aid for creating your own AH vehicles.
Shipbucket.com - A useful little site with tons of pre-drawn pictorial models of various real and alternate military ships and various other vehicles of war. Can come in handy if you're creating a navy-centric TL.
Springsharp.com - “SpringSharp allows you to design “what-if” and “never built” warships between 1850 and 1950 using little more than the specifications in books like Janes Fighting Ships, Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships etc. It applies parametric formulas as used by professional Naval Architects (Mumford, Parsons, Holtrop & Mennen etc) as well as empirical data based on research on ships (Liners & Warships) of the period to give a soundly grounded and scientific basis to your designs. SpringSharp produces a written report in far more detail than the above resources.”
PimpMyGun site - A great flash application for creating pictorial models of various firearms (real modified ones or completely fictional). Has a rather extensive list of pre-built default models and accesories and is regularly udpated.
Pimp My Airsoft - Not as good as the above one, but with a little skill, you can still use it to make decent fictional firearms.
A pretty good custom coin generator
Another custom coin generator (WARNING : The site that hosts it contains some NSFW stock images.)
Make Your Own Soldiers and Other Military Stuff - Requires decent usage skills of programs to edit figures, once you get the hang of it it works fine. There are tutorials online. Updated every week with new figures.
MapSymbs Homepage - Tom Mouat's NATO Military Map Marking Symbols as TrueType Fonts, and other Military related Resources.
Ortelium Symbol Factory - Online generator tool for military map symbols (primarily NATO standards).
4. Various tips and tutorials
Resources by themselves don't create artworks, so you'll have to probably practice and learn certain skills before you create some.
Software tuturials
MSPaint Tutorial - Learn recolouring, diagonal stripes and more !, courtesy of Thande
Inkscape tutorials, courtesy of Pischinovski
Map-making with Inkscape, courtesy of LSCatilina
Map-making with Inkscape, courtesy of Nymain1
Layering maps in Paint.net or Photoshop, courtesy of manomow
General artwork tutorials
Illustration Tutorials and Advice Superthread, courtesy of Krall et al
News Graphics Tutorial, courtesy of Septimus
Useful 1920s-1930s typefaces, newspaper resources, and telegram templates, courtesy of Color-Copycat
Tutorials in PDF Format, courtesy of www.cartographersguild.com
Maps
Zăgan's Map Tutorial, courtesy of Zagan
Tutorial on making satellite maps, courtesy of MNP
Map-making with Inkscape, courtesy of LSCatilina
Map-making with Inkscape, courtesy of Nymain1
A really quick and easy way to make realistic fantasy maps, courtesy of EdT
Brief map-making tips 1, courtesy of rvbomally
Brief map-making tips 2, courtesy of Alex Richards
Historical style map making in Inkscape and Photoshop, courtesy of Blomma
Making not so random coastlines in GIMP, courtesy of www.cartographersguild.com
Tutorial for Making Alternate History Maps, courtesy of IntrepidTee
Modern-style map tutorial (using GIMP and Inkscape), courtesy of Kuusinen
Creating Fantasy Borders Easily, courtesy of DoomBunny
The Map Conversion Thread, courtesy of VT45
Layering maps in Paint.net or Photoshop, courtesy of manomow
Lifelines Of Logistics - How To (Not) Draw Your Transit Maps/Diagrams, courtesy of Dr. Nodelescu
Flags
How to make good flags on mobile devices
Tips for designing flags of ATL fascist nations
Tips for designing flags of ATL communist nations
Confederate National Symbols/Emblems
The flag of a British Republic ?
WI: All Nations had Nepal style Flags?
Proposals for a flag of a Swedish SSR
Alternate symbols for Nationalist/Fascist Germany
Illustrations and models
How To Create a Good AH Wikipedia Article, courtesy of Richard Harrow
Yli's Armoured Fighting Vehicles Tutorials, courtesy of YLi
Claymore's Alternate History Armoured Fighting Vehicles Thread
Generic ship drawing guide, courtesy of the contributors to the Shipbucket.com forums
See Also
Flag and Vexilological Resources - A resource page.
Heraldry Resources - A resource page.
Map and Cartography Resources - A resource page.
Alternate History Media - A collection of threads containing alternate history artworks made by the members of the board.