Minecraft wiki entry for Time-saving_tips, associated text: There are many external tools which may help speed up certain types of projects. There are graphics tools to help you make blueprints (such as GIMP, AutoCAD or Google Sketchup), and shape libraries and examples, YouTube videos and more besides. For any big project, look seriously at these options. Tips and examples by other people may save you hours of experimentation or wasted work, and they may help with artistic inspiration too. Pencil and graph paper are perfectly fine tools to use too, and for some projects they are likely to be the ideal solution.