Wonderful tutorial! Mind if I post a link to it from the Plans, Books, & Resources thread -- or would you care to copy it there yourself?

And no problem with poly count reminders. It's kind of my job

Sails need to look like sails A full replacement doesn't. Also, sails and decals can be colored independently. So make one half of your checkers pure white at an opacity level of about 50-70%, and the other half 100% transparent. You'll end up with a decal that looks like a sail when used in the game, and that can be used in an enormous variety of color combinations.

Nice design, but sails need a transparent background. If you take the first design (white on black), make the white 30% transparent (opacity level 70%), and make the black 100% transparent, then you'll have a decal that will look good on any sail. You can color the decal and sail independently

Two quick notes:

1) The place to link flags and sails you've submitted is the Flag and Sail Votes sticky. If you're looking for feedback, it's best to post your work directly in the forum before submitting. I've repurposed this thread to be your very own preview area

2) You'll want to avoid 3D effects as well as cartoon styles. Remember that sail decals are supposed to be sewn onto the sail, not painted on. It's not really possible to get a 3D look using period sewing (at least on canvases 50-100 feet on a side).

Some good ideas here though, so I'll look forward to seeing more previews of your work. Happy drawing!

She's built to the plans of the Danish frigate Raa/Raae built in 1709 by Olaus Judich?

Since this thread has descended into a fight, and since the bounty has been withdrawn anyway, I am closing this thread.

Good work!

I've merged your two threads, so now you have one place to preview any flag and sail you'd like community feedback on prior to submission. Enjoy!

Very nice design! Just two points to note:

1) You'll need to avoid pure, fully saturated colors. This includes white. Aim for something closer to RGB 235/230/220 instead, and look here for additional color recommendations.

2) Remember that flags need to be made in a 3:2 aspect ratio. When you resize this to 128 x 85 pixels, it will get stretched out and not look the way you want it. Try starting with a canvas size around 512 x 340 pixels instead.

Of course, you can make a flag that looks like it's a different shape by using an alpha channel. Check the Tutorials sticky for more information on that. But the flag file itself needs to be in the correct proportions.

Happy drawing!

That's a very well done flag, but note the Union Flag didn't have the red Cross of St. Patrick in 1720. Remove that and you'll be good to go!

Great design and colors!

Two things to notice:

1) There are some stray lines above and below the cross which you'll probably want to clean up.

2) In-game, opacity above 70% looks like no opacity. While your decal is technically OK (it's not covering more than 50% of the sail area), if you want the design to look like it's part of the sail, try making it only 50-70% opaque.

Meanwhile, the edges of the cross are a little blurred and ragged, but once this is layered on top of a sail I don't think that will be a problem. If you can fix that -- e.g. by redrawing your decal at a 512 x 512 or even 1024 x 1024 pixels and shrinking down for submission -- so much the better, but it should be OK as is.

Happy drawing!