LETTERING
I. LETTERING IS NEEDED ON DRAWINGS FOR:
A. DIMENSIONS
B. DESCRIPTIVE TITLES
C. IMFORMATIVE, DETAILED NOTES
D. PRINTING TEXT IS DONE WITH TYPE
E. LETTERING IS DONE BY HAND
1. LETTERING MUST BE HIGHLY LEGIBLE
2. IT MUST BE UNIFORM
3. SHOULD BE DONE QUICKLY
F. ALL LETTERING EVOLVED FROM SOME FORM OF
PICTOGRAPH OR PICTURE WRITING
1. ONE EARLY FORM WAS EGYPTION
HIEROGLYPHICS
2. OUR CURRENT ALPHABET LETTERS
REPRESENT SOUNDS PUT TOGETHER TO
FORM WORDS
G. LETTERING CAN BE DONE BY VARIOUS
METHODS
1. BY HAND
a. FREEHAND WITH GUIDELINES
b. WITH LETTERING TEMPLATES
2. MECHANICALLY
a. COMPUTER
b. TRANSFER OR RUB OFF
c. LEROY LETTERING SYSTEM
II. HAND LETTERING
A. IT IS UNIVERSAL AND ALWAYS OF VALUE
B. THE ABILITY TO LETTER WELL TAKES PRACTICE
C. GOOD LETTERING WILL IMPROVE YOUR
DRAWING
D. POOR LETTERING WILL DESTRACT FROM GOOD
WORK
E. ALWAYS USE LIGHT GUIDELINES!
F. MOST DRAWINGS REQUIRE .125 (1/8”) HIGH
LETTERS
G. ALWAYS USE CAPITAL LETTERS
III. LETTER FORMS
A. THERE ARE THREE FORMS OF WESTERN
LETTERS GENERALLY USED TODAY
1. ROMAN STYLE
a. LETTERS ARE COMPRISED OF THICK
AND THIN STROKES
2. TEXT
a. COVERS MANY STYLES OF OLDER
LETTERING
b. INCLUDES OLD ENGLISH AND
CALIGRAPHY
3. GOTHIC
a. HAS UNIFORM STROKES
b. IS SIMPLE, PLAIN, NOT FANCY
c. NO CURLICUES
d. ADOPTED IN 1890 BY PRINTERS
e. CALLED SINGLE STROKE
B. ENGINEERING STANDARDS
1. LETTERING IS STANDARIZED FOR MOST
DRAWINGS BY THE AMERICAN NATIONAL
STANDARDS INSTITUTE
a. ANSI
b. GOVERNS THE USE OF ALL
LETTERING FOR:
c. DIMENSIONS
d. NOTES
e. LABELS
2. ALSO SETS STANDARDS FOR ALL
DRAWING PROCEEDURES
a. ESTABLISHED IN 1935 AND UPDATED
AS REQUIRED
C. UNIFORMITY OF LETTERING
1. LETTERING SHOULD BE UNIFORM
a. VERTICAL
b. CAPITALS
c. SAME HEIGHT FOR LIKE LETTERING
2. SHOULD BE DONE RAPIDLY
3. SPACES BETWEEN LETTERS SHOULD
“APPEAR” EQUAL OR SIMILAR
a. NOT MEASURED, BUT VISUAL
IV. LETTERING TECHNIQUES
A. PRACTICE WITH REAL EFFORT
B. LEARN THE SHAPES
C. LEARN THE STROKES
D. BE AWARE OF THE RULES FOR SPACING
LETTERS
E. NEVER LETTER WITH YOUR ARM OFF THE
BOARD
F. MAKE CLEAR, DARK LETTERS
G. BEAR DOWN AT THE BEGINNING AND END OF
EACH LETTER
H. USE VERY LIGHT HORIZONTAL GUIDELINES FOR
UNIFORM LETTERING HEIGHT
I. LEFT HANDERS AND INCLINED LETTERS
1. MANY LEFT HANDED PEOPLE FIND IT
DIFFICULT TO LETTER VERTICALLY
2. INCLINED LETTERS ARE GENERALLY AT 68˚
a. STILL REQUIRED TO BE 1/8” HIGH
J. SPACING BETWEEN LINES OF LETTERS
1. GOOD SPACING BETWEEN LINES OF
LETTERS SHOULD BE LESS THAN THE
HEIGHT OF THE LETTER
2. BUT NOT LESS THAN HALF
K. VERTICAL CAPITAL LETTERS
1. ALMOST ALL LETTERS ARE 5 UNITS WIDE
2. ALL LETTERS THAT ARE 6 UNITS WIDE
a. SPELL TOM Q. VAXSY
3. ONLY I AND W ARE NOT 5 OR 6 UNITS
4. ALL HORIZONTAL STROKES GO LEFT TO
RIGHT
5. ALL VERTICAL STROKES GO TOP TO
BOTTOM
V. LETTERING DEVICES
A. LEROY LETTERING
1. INK LETTERING
2. A TWO PART SYSTEM
a. BUG (DEVICE)
b. LETTERING GUIDE
B. LETTERING GUIDES
1. PLASTIC CUTOUTS
C. DRY TRANSFER
1. WAX PAPER LETTERS
D. CAD
1. MECHANICAL