After a long hiatus, gathering some feedback, acquiring some additional software, and a fair bit of work… I’m finally close to releasing a major update for the Investigator Passports.
But first, the bad news. I’m going to need to increase the price for these moving forward. Making money off of these was never a goal, but some of the improvements I’ve made require me to get some additional subscription-based software plugins. So I will be increasing the price in the near future to help slightly offset the additional monthly cost.
But on the flip side, these improvement and additional software should allow me to more easily add more countries and other elements moving forward. So hopefully, more frequent and substantive updates.
Here’s what’s coming in the update:
- So the most obvious difference is the inclusion of blank pages for Visa stamps. This was a highly requested feature. Each passport will have 2 blank Visa pages, but these are entirely optional. If you want to print a character sheet on the backside as in the original design, you still can. If you want the Visa pages, just print two-sided and make one extra cut. That’s it. You get two Visa pages with everything held together and are still only using one sheet of paper. (Ignoring the sloppy cut, you can see the first test print of this design below.)
- Additional fields – I’ve added quite a few more fields to support passports from more countries. More characteristics, travel destination, places of birth, children’s names, etc. These are still all filled out on the first couple of pages and seamlessly appear on your chosen passport.
- Security stamps on photos – Many passports in the 20s and 30s made use of ink stamps on top of photos as a security feature. I’ve figured out a way to incorporate these while still allowing you to load your own photo. I think this makes those passports look much more realistic. You can see an example in the photos below. Of course, these stamps were often specific to the city or region where the passport was issued. Fortunately, the way I’ve done this allows you to choose a stamp in much the same way you would the photo itself. So you could choose between two different German photo stamps, for example.
- And I’m adding more countries. The new list will include: United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Indian Empire, Australia, Argentina, China, France, Germany, Italy, South Africa, and the USSR.
- Sample photos – I’m also planning to include a selection of period-appropriate passport photos for each country. Just an optional tool so you can include more realistic photos if you want. Note that these photos will be AI-generated. That way they do not portray any actual people.
So that’s where I’m at and what should be coming soon. Please share any thoughts or questions.
