After a lot of questions from the community on how to make complex banners using editor, I decided to make a guide on the subject. I will change it and add new things over time, so stay tuned.

Basics and Limitations.

Here is our beloved editor, created by u/bizzfarts:

I'm sure that anyone who is reading this is familiar with it, however I'll still go over It's basic functions and limitations and some of the features that are not immediately apparent to the average user.

So let's figure out what we can actually do with this editor. I will be referring to this image for the next portion of guide:

1.List of layers.

Pretty self explanatory. Here we have the list of all of layers of which our banner consists. On the top of the list is our background (of which we can have only one). It's followed by "clone selection" button, which adds exact copies of selected layers on top of the list. After that there is "add sigil" button, which adds copy of one selected layer, changing it's coordinates to x:0 y:0. On the bottom there is a number of layers. Note that bannerlord currently can only use maximum of 400 layers, even though you can add more then that in the editor.

Layers that are higher up on the list will overlay layers bellow them. You can multiselect layers by using shift and ctr keys. You can also move layer (or multiple layers) via dragging them.

2.Layer parameters.

Here you can change any parameters of selected layer or layers. You can use X/Y/W/H/° boxes for fine adjustment of positioning, size and angle of selected layers. Using them will remove tool overlay in Banner preview(3) which will allow you to see the layer you are currently working on more clearly [suggested by u/Meevious]. Note that if you have selected multiple layers, editor will calculate center point of the massive of those layers and use it to calculate X and Y coordinates, which then can be changed, in order to move said massive. Also note that you can't edit height or width of multiselect massive independently.

3.Banner preview.

Here you can see the preview your banner and interact with selected layer or layers. Note that you can move sigils via arrow keys on your keyboard for fine tuning their position.

[suggested by u/kunibuni] The preview on the website and the downloaded image are downscaled, so there are details you can't see in the editor but can be seen in some elements in-game.

4.Code window.

Here you can copy your code or paste someone else's code. You can also download the .png file of your banner.

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With that out of the way let's talk Limitations.

As I've already mentioned previously, you are limited to 400 layers, which is the only hard limitation, however not the only one.

As you can see there is a dotted line rectangle in the editor, which represents approximate region of the image that will be used on most icons and shields in the game, however it's only true for icon in in-game encyclopedia entry of your clan/kingdom. Different icons and shields will use different sections of the image, so keep that in mind. Some of them will even use section that is bigger then editor window, so you should always make your background atleast 2000 by 2000 pixels to avoid uncovered surfaces.

You can use templates to see if your banner fits on some of the shield, or create banner for a specific shield. Or you can use framing template provided by u/Meevious to see if your design fits into various in-game icons, banners and round shields.

Also there is currently a visual bug in-game that looks like this:

It's caused by layers being positioned or stretched bellow the dotted line rectangle in the editor. When this occurs, game takes main and secondary color of your background, mixes them and replaces part of the background with resulting color. You can avoid this by having the same main and secondary colors, or not placing layers bellow the dotted line in the editor.

[suggested by u/Meevious ] The shield bug (and the related overworld banner bug) are actually caused by the image kind of looping from left to right (overworld banner) and top to bottom (long shields).

The game will sample the edge of either side and blend them together.

To avoid this, place the desired colour just offscreen on the opposite side.

For example, if you have black leaving the area on the top and white on the bottom, the game will display grey. If you want the white to continue downward, you should create a white box of the desired width and move it upward until it's just outside of every template. Idk how far exactly off the top of my head, but if you look at the top two rectangles on my banner here, you can see what I mean. One fixes the shield bug and the other fixes the overworld banner bug.

Now that we know all the basics and limitations let's talk about more advanced techniques.

1.Having reference image.

This is pretty obvious one, but if you are creating version of already existing banner, you should probably have a reference image that you can use. However even if you have a reference it's quite easy to mess up proportions and such, which brings me to my next point.

2.Using image overlay software or browser extensions.

This helps tremendously when creating really complex images. A good example of such software is PerfectPixel which is an extension for chrome engine browsers, which allows you to place transparent image on top of your browser page. There are a lot of other software that does the same thing, but I like this one the most.

3.Try to split your image into simple shapes.

You should always try to imagine any complex shape as a group of simpler shapes, such as circles, rectangles and triangles. Any image can be boiled down to this basic components. You can sometimes use more complex components provided by editor, augmenting them with simpler shapes to look like you want. Here is the good example:

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As you can see, I've used sigil of a lion, provided by the editor as a base, changing his head and tail by using mostly circles of white, black and red colors. I've also used the flower sigil (covering leaves on the sides with red circles) to create a tail. Also, as you can probably see, most of the shapes used twice: first time with black color, to create the outline and the second time with white or red color to create the shape itself, which brings me to my next point:

4.Try to avoid using "stroke" feature as much as possible.

While in some situations (such as using complex sigils like lions or eagles) it's helpful to use this feature, most of the time I wouldn't recommend it. Stroke width will change with the height and width of layer, sometimes being different on different layers, which doesn't look good. If you are using simple shapes, create a copy of them, place them bellow the original shapes in layer order, change color to the desired one, and make them bigger by a few pixels. This creates clearer outlines, that are more consistent in shape.

However this feature is useful if you want to increase width of some elements like hollow circles/rectangles or other more complex sigils. In that case use the same color as primary and secondary and turn stroke on.

5.When using simple shapes avoid this ones:

They may seem fine at first, but they are actually asymmetrical for some reason. Use squares and circles instead. Also avoid using half moons since they can be replaced by two circles of different color.

1. List of shapes that are not obvious at first, but still can be used in some situations.

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All of those shapes have really nice curves, that can be used to replace circles in situations when you can't use them to create inward arc because background is too complex to overlay with single circle.

For example:

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You can also use those shapes to create somewhat good looking color fade:

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7.Changing the color of cloth in-game

Most of in-game clothing uses two colors: primary color of your background and primary color of last layer in the list. So, if you want specific colors that are not used in your banner you can add bottom layer that is hidden behind other sigils for secondary color. For main color you can use this background type:

It uses only secondary color in banner itself, allowing you to use any other color to change only the primary color of clothing.

8.Always back up your banners as you work.

This is pretty simple, yet important step. Always keep .txt file in which you can paste codes of your banner as you work, just in case of mistake.

9.Paste your banners in-game as you work.

This allows you to see if your image fits well on shields and icons in-game as you work. It also will help you to notice any visual bugs early and get rid of them without losing too much progress.

10.Be patient.

It takes a lot of time to make a banner, so be patient. If you failed first time, try again. Despite the limitations, you can make amazing things using this editor.

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That's pretty much everything that I have to share with you on how to make complex banners. You can find any codes of banners I've used in this guide in my profile. I will update this guide over time. Feel free to ask questions in comments, or write anything you want to be added to this guide.