The Gauntlet - January 2009

A Publication of Armorial Gold Heraldry Services

HERALDRY RAMBLINGS

Variant Blazons-Fair Game

Surname spelling variants come into focus when looking up a blazon for a surname where no blazon exists. There are many internet sites that can help when looking for variants. You should however make certain your client knows you are using a variant. Some surnames have dozens of spelling variants; some of those variants have had coat of arms granted and they are different from one another, in many cases. Although we all know Heraldry is not an exact science, it's vital your customer is informed, and that you don't follow the practice of some bucket shops, where they assign the same coat of arms to all variant spellings.

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Got Vista, and no longer have thumbnail view for your WMF images? Our own Rick Macmurchie has written some simple viewing software for you. Click on the Vista logo above for details.

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SALIENT VS RAMPANT

When determining if an image is Rampant or Salient, follow the simple rule: if its hind legs are both on the ground, it's Salient.

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CS II GLITCH

Some white portions of a CDR image may show as black-simply color them white. CS does not recognize the HSB color model.

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MORE BLAZONS ADDED

Over the Holidays many more blazons have been added to the Armorial Gold Blazon database.

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STAFF NOTES

Christmas sale was successful and we thank all those who participated. Over the next while the website will change somewhat with some titles removed, and others increased in size, as we get ready for the new year. So be patient with us, and always refresh your browser.

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POINTS AND NODES

This month, we have included a fix for the square chain of Navarra. Most of you won't notice any difference, but some will. Vector art is composed of points or nodes connecting lines together to form the shape. When the software program you are using has restrictions as to the complexity of art it renders, it often connects these node with lines in an attempt to conform to its software. As a result you see these stray lines on the image. We have reduced the nodes so this won't happen for this image.

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SPUR ROWELS

When a blazon calls for a spur rowel your options are either of the above, unless you have a picture to go by indicating which of the two is to be drawn.

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M-16 PARTITIONS

This is one of the more popular of the "ornate" mantlings. Many of you have requested we do some shield partitions. This month we have included 12 of the frequently used. If you need one that has not been provided, just drop us a note, with file format needed.

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The Mermaid and the Triton template, now available for the asking....

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THE WORLDS LARGEST PROVIDER OF HERALDRY ART

We are leaving this help tip up, as more and more of you are upgrading

your Corel Draw software to X3 or X4

Corel Draw has changed some default settings in X3 and X4 that can render your vector images black, do the same for your F9 preview and in the case of X4 display your image excessively dark.

Fixes:

Top Command Bar/View Select “enhanced” and not “enhanced with overprints”;
Top Command Bar/Tools/Color Management Color Mode for Effects-should be set at RGB (not CMYK);
Top Command Bar/Tools Select “Save Settings as default” ;
When importing AG graphics into X4, make sure you first group your image before using the F9 full screen preview (X3 imports the graphic already grouped).