Federal TVET Teachers Training Institute

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Chapter 1.3.1 General Rules for Lettering

Lettering is an art of writing text on a drawing by using alphabets, numerals and symbols. Texts are necessary
to provide specific information, like dimensions, notes, special instructions, etc. The text should be clear and
concise. Two types of lettering are commonly used --- (1) single stroke, and (2) double stroke. Single stroke or
double stroke letters may be vertical or inclined. The line width of a double stroke letter is greater than that of
a single stroke letter.

Lettering Rules
The following are the general rules of lettering to observe in conducting lettering works:
1. Draw letters as simple as possible. Artistic or cursive lettering should be strictly avoided.
2. Draw letters symmetrical about the vertical axis or horizontal axis. Asymmetric letters like F, R, Z, 4,
etc. may be drawn as they are.
3. Always skip a space between rows of letters.
4. Normal lettering is made 1/8” or 3.5 mm high.
5. Titles should be lettered 1/4” or 5 to 7 mm high.
6. Fractions are lettered twice the height of normal letters.
7. Use a medium lead pencil (B, HB, F or H) for normal lettering
8. Use a hard lead pencil (4H to 9H) for drawing guidelines.
9. Round-off the sharp corners wherever necessary, e.g., D, P, S, etc.
10. Draw all letters legible and uniform.
11. The height of all the letters in one line should be the same.
12. Use single stroke vertical CAPITAL letters as much as possible.
Note: The word letter is used for alphabet, numerals, symbols, punctuation mark, etc.

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Height and Width of Letters
The letters may have different heights depending on their purposes BIS (SP 46:2003) has recommended the
heights of letter as : 1.8mm, 2.5mm, 3.5mm, 5mm, 7mm, 10mm, 14mm, and 20mm. Large-sized letters are
used for main titles and headings, medium-sized letters for subtitles and important notes and small-sized let-
ters for dimensions and general notes. The height of letters bears direct relationship with the size of drawing,
i.e., large-sized letters for larger drawings and small-sized letters for smaller drawings. Larger letters are pre-
ferred for ink lettering. For pencil lettering, smaller letters are suitable. The readers are advised to use letters
of 10mm, 7mm and 5mm height to write titles, subtitles and notes/dimensions respectively on the pencil
drawing.
The body height of lowercase letters is taken as 0.7 times the height of capital letters. The tail and the stem of-
the lowercase letters are drawn 0.30 times the height of a capital letter. Thus, the total height of a lowercase
letter is the same as that of capital letters.

The height-to-width ratio varies from letter to letter. Most of the letters follow the ratio 7:5 or 7:6. The letters I
and l are the narrowest while the letter W is the widest. Table 2.3 below shows the width of various letter
groups.

Line Width
The line width of a letter depends on its height. Large-sized letters have more line thickness that small-sized
letters. The appropriate line widths for the letters of different heights are shown in the figure below.

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 Information sheet 1.3.2 Gothic Lettering : Vertical & Italic Lettering

Styles of Lettering
Single stroke Vertical Gothic Lettering: This is the most common and preferred lettering style. “Single
Stroke” refers to the thickness obtained in one stroke of a pencil or ink pen. It does not mean that a pencil or
pen should not be lifted while completing a particular letter. The letters are drawn upright. Figure 2.6 shows
the alphabets, numerals, symbols and punctuation mark drawn in a single stroke vertical gothic style (height =
7mm, line width = 0.5mm). The width of various characters may be noted carefully.

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Single Stroke Inclined Gothic Lettering: The inclined letters are sloped to the right at 75º from the hori-
zontal. The inclinations of all the letters should be the same. Figure 2.8 shows a sample lettering of this style.

Double Stroke Vertical Gothic Lettering: This style is preferred for ink drawings. The lettering template is
used to draw the outline of the letter. The letters are then filled in with ink. Obviously, double stroke letters are
thicker than single stroke letters. They are drawn comparatively larger than single stroke letters. The line width
varies from 0.1 to 0.2 of the height of the letters. The sample lettering is shown in Fig. 2.9.

 Double Stroke Inclined Gothic Lettering: When thicker letters, mentioned in the previous paragraph, are
drawn inclined at 75º to the horizontal, the style is called double stroke inclined lettering. See Fig. 2.10.

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Lettering Practice

Quite a good amount of practice is necessary for ensuring perfection in lettering. To start with, lettering may
be done with instruments, i.e., lettering set-squares or specially designed lettering triangles. Lettering template
(a plastic plate on which letters are carved) may be used for double stroke Gothic lettering but for single-stroke
lettering, the use of lettering template is not recommended. Rounded corners and curved letters should be
drawn freehand. After sufficient practice, lettering may be completely done freehand. The instruments may be
used for reference.

Pencil Grade: Use of proper grade of pencil enhances the quality of lettering. An H grade pencil is the best
choice for single stroke lettering. An HB grade pencil may be used for freehand lettering. A pencil with a finely
rounded tip gives a better result.

Hand Strokes: Practice of line strokes is extremely essential to ensure the speed in freehand lettering. The
horizontal lines in the letters are drawn from left to right. The vertical or inclined lines are drawn downwards.
The curves in the letter are drawn clockwise if they bend to the right. An anticlockwise stroke is preferred if the
curve bends to the left, see fig. 2.11. The reverse strokes should not be used in any case.

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Use of Grid/Guide Lines: Initially, the grid may be used for lettering practice. It ensures the proportion of
each letter. Each grid cell is 1mm x 1mm. The grid lines should be very thin. Guide lines provide an alternative
to a grid. Three horizontal guide lines for capital letters and four horizontal guidelines for lowercase letters may
be use initially. Vertical guide lines may be drawn to determine letter widths and spacing. After sufficient prac-
tice, two horizontal guide lines (for capital letters and lowercase letters) should be used.

Spacing: The distance between the two letters in a word may not be necessarily the same. The adjacent let-
ters in a word are so placed that the background areas between them are seen approximately equal. The spa-
cing between words may be taken equal to the height of the letters.

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Fractions and Indices Lettering: While lettering a fraction, keep the height of the numerator and de-
nominator equal to 3/4th of the height of a non-fractioned number. The spacing between division bar
and the numerator or denominator should be such that the total height of fraction will be twice of that
of a non-fractioned number. The height of index may be taken as half of the height of a base letter.
See fig. 2.13(a) and (b).
Normal, Compressed and Expanded Letters: The normal, compressed and expanded letters are
shown in fig. 2.14. Normal letters, as the name suggests, have normal proportions and spacing. They
should be preferred as much as possible. Compressed letters have narrowed proportions (i.e., more
height-to-weight ratio) and spacing. They are preferred when the available space is small. Extended
letters, on the other hand, have widened proportions (i.e., lesser height-to-weight ratio) and spacing.
They are used to utilize a large available space. Compressed and expanded letters may be used to
distinguish a sentence from other sentences.

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 Operation Sheet for
Freehand Lettering
Plate
Operation Title:
Freehand Lettering

Purpose :
Using repetitive freehand lettering will help improve hand reflexes in doing engineering drafting let-
tering works. This activity will condition the hand in doing freehand lettering.

Conditions or Situations for The Operation :

Lettering samples are given for the student to redraw in a given drawing paper. The lettering
samples have directions so as for easy comprehension of the student in drawing the proper direc-
tion of each letter. Additional numerical fractions are given for the student to properly proportion let-
tering works.

Equipment, Tools and Materials :

 HB drawing pencil lead
 4H drawing pencil lead
 45º x 90º triangle
 30º x 60º triangle
 Eraser
 T-square
 Drawing table
 Drawing papers

Procedure:
1. Set up the oslo drawing paper on top of the drawing board.
2. Check to see that the paper edges are parallel to the left and bottom edges of the board re-
spectively.
3. Properly secure the paper on top of the table by using masking tape or tacks or the likes.
4. Using the set of triangles and t-square, draw the border line around the drawing paper, leaving
area for the title block at the bottom part.
5. Be sure to check the sharpness of your pencil lead. Use standard sharpening for good aes-
thetic result of your work.
6. For normal drafting or lettering use the soft lead pencil (HB) for final results. Use the harder
lead pencil (4H) for guidelines drawing only.
7. Using the set of triangles, t-square and lead pencil for drawing guidelines, draw a series of
guidelines using 7 mm as the size of the capital letters.
8. Make the size of the 7 mm height as the reference for proportioning the upper and lower case
letters. Refer to the information sheet for lettering for guidance.
9. Use separate sheets for vertical and inclined letterings.
10. Use separate sheets for Uppercase and lower case letterings for each vertical and inclined let-
terings ( 4 sheets in all). Numerical fractions should be included in the lowercase lettering sheet
while whole numbers will be in the uppercase lettering.
11. Use single strokes gothic letterings for both vertical and inclined lettering.
12. For inclined lettering use 75º inclination from the horizontal as your guideline.
13. Observe uniformity of spacing. Refer to information sheet of lettering.
14. This is not a work of speed but a work of accuracy and aesthetics, so do your work with quality.
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 15. You may submit your finish work once you are true but should be within the time specified for
submission.
Precautions :
1. Some of the instruments are pointed objects, observe standard safety of works.
2. Place the drawing instruments in a safe location when in idle.
3. Observe proper posture of body in drafting works to avoid if not minimize body stress.

Quality Criteria :
1. Guidelines to be should be almost invisible. Do not erase the guidelines as it adds aesthetic
looks to the drafting works.
2. Uniform line weight and intensity or darkness of pencil lead.
3. Proper spacing and height-to-width ratio of lettering works.
4. Observe neatness of workmanship.

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