Armorials

In addition to creating individual shields, DrawShield can also be used to create an Armorial Roll, which is a single image containing multiple heraldic shields.

Creating an Armorial Roll

The creation of a roll is alternative to creating a single coat of arms and must be started using the following syntax:

An armorial roll...

(You can also just call it a roll or table - other names can be added if needed.)

Setting Options

Columns

By default, shields will be arranged in 3 columns. If you want to change this follow the words above with:

with N columns

There is no need to set the number of rows as this is determined by the number of shields that you provide.

Setting the Background

By default the background of the roll will be transparent, if you wish to change this use the following:

background <tincture>

The tincture can a colour, fur or treatment but really only light colours look effective.

Setting the Title

You can give your roll and overall title by following the above with:

with title "This is the Title"

Multiple words must be enclosed in quotation marks.

(Additional options may be provided in the future)

Listing the Shields

Following the declaration of the roll and any options you can now list the required shields. Each description is effectively a complete DrawShield entry in its own right, so it can include achievements, shields alongside each other and variant shapes - however, conventionally armorials generally just show shields.

You can optionally introduce the list by using any of the terms:

consisting of, comprising, made up of

Or similar variations.

To separate the shields use either of the terms:

next or then

I recommend putting this on to a separate line for ease of identification.

You can also leave a blank space instead of a shield by using:

skip

You can also skip more than one space by repeating this, or by following it with the number of spaces that you wish to skip.

Skips can be used, for example, to centre the final shields if they do not fill a whole row.

Shield Captions

You can optionally give each shield a caption by placing the following after the shield description and the word next or then:

caption "Caption text"

Multi-word captions must be enclosed in quotation marks.

At present, no formatting is possible for the caption, and all will be drawn the same size on a single line centered below the shield, unless it is too long in which case it is shrunk to fit.

By default, the caption is placed below the shield. You can change the position by using instead:

caption above "Caption text"

Example