BE - 1 Lecture Notes 4 Lettering
Uploaded by
Raymund Joshua Pre�aBE - 1 Lecture Notes 4 Lettering
Uploaded by
Raymund Joshua Pre�aStandard Plan
MODEL TITLE BLOCK
FOR BUILDING PLANS/CONSTRUCTION DRAWINGS
Drawing Sheet A0 – A4 Sizes
ANSI/ASME standards for international and U.S. Sheet Sizes with Margins
Lettering
Engineering drawings use single-stroke sans serif letters because they are highly legible
and quick to draw. (Sans serif means without serifs, or spurs.) The sans serif letters used
for drawings are also referred to as Gothic. (Serif letters are sometimes called Roman,
but today that term is commonly used for the upright form of the letters.) A font is the
name for a set of letters with the same style.
• Knowing the proportions and forms of the letters (to make good letters, you need to have
a clear mental image of their correct shape)
• Spacing of letters and words for legibility
• Practice
Lettering should be
• Legible
• Easy to create
• Use styles acceptable for traditional drawing and CAD (particular font for
engineering drawing is gothic)
Tips in making letters
• Use extremely light horizontal guidelines to keep letter height uniform
• Capital letters are commonly made 3 mm (1/8 in) high, with the space between
rows of lettering being from three-fifths to full height of the letters
• Do not use vertical guidelines to space the distance from one letter to the next
within a word or sentence. This should be done by eye while lettering.
• If necessary, use a vertical guideline at the beginning of a column of hand-lettered
text to help you line up the left edges of the following rows.
• Beginners can also use randomly spaced vertical guidelines to practice
maintaining the correct slant.
• The letter shapes are probably a little wider than your usual writing.
• Hand lettering and text added to engineering drawings is typically upper case.
• Lowercase letters are rarely used except for large volumes of notes or when there
is some other particular need for it.
• The lower part of the letter (or descender) is usually two thirds the height of the
capital letter.
• When large and small capitals are combined, the small capitals should be three-
fifths to two-thirds the height of the large capital
Inclined (italic)
• They are similar to vertical lettering, except the slope is about 68° from the
horizontal.
• Although you may practice hand lettering slanted at approximately this angle, it is
important in CAD drawings to always set the amount of incline for the letters at the
same value within a drawing so that the lettering is consistent.
• Keep in mind that only one style of lettering or font, either vertical or inclined,
should be used throughout a drawing.
Vertical Capital Letters and Numerals
Vertical Lower Case Letters
Inclined Capital Letters and Numerals
Inclined Lower Case Letters
Fractions
• Fractions are shown twice the height of the corresponding whole numbers.
• Make the numerator and the denominator each about three-fourths as high as the
whole number to allow enough space between them and the fraction bar.
• For dimensioning, the most commonly used height for whole numbers is 3 mm (1/8
in), and for fractions 6 mm (1/4 in).
• Never let numerals touch the fraction bar.
• Center the denominator under the numerator.
• Avoid using an inclined fraction bar, except when lettering in a narrow space, as in
a parts list.
• Make the fraction bar slightly longer than the widest part of the fraction.
• Dimensioning in fractions is still used in the US, but even there it is less and less
common.
• Calculating with fractions often takes manufacturing workers extra time and errors
are common.
• Much of the numerically-controlled manufacturing for cabinets and countertops
uses millimeters as the default units, even in the United States.
Spacing of Letters and Words
• Uniform spacing between letters is done by eye.
• Contrary to what might seem logical, putting equal distances from letter to letter
causes them to appear unequally spaced.
• The background areas between letters, not the distances between them, should
be approximately equal to get results that appear balanced.
• Space your lettering so that background areas appear equal, like the example
shown in the bottom half of the figure.
• Some combinations, such as LT and VA, may have to be slightly closer than other
letters to look correctly spaced.
• In some cases, the width of a letter may be decreased slightly.
• For example, the lower stroke of the L may be shortened when followed by A.
• In typesetting, pairs of letters that need to be spaced more closely to appear
correctly are called kerned pairs.
• Spacing between Words Space letters closely within words to make each word a
compact unit, but space words well enough apart to clearly separate them from
adjacent words.
• For both uppercase and lowercase lettering, make spaces between words
approximately equal to a capital O.
Spacing between Rows
• Be sure to leave space between rows of lettering, usually equal to the letter height.
• Rows spaced too closely are hard to read.
• Rows spaced too far apart do not appear to be related.
• Space between rows of lettering is three-fifths to full height of the letters.
Lettering Tips
• Lettering will be reproduced therefore the letters should be dense black, not gray or
blurred. Use a sharp, soft pencil, such as an F, H, or HB to make lettering dark and
sharp.
• Wooden pencils should be sharpen to a needle point, then dull the point very
slightly.
• Don’t worry about making the exact letter strokes unless you find it difficult to make
the letters look right, but do use them as a reference if you are having trouble
drawing uniform, symmetrical letters.
• Use extremely light, 1/8” (3 mm) horizontal guidelines to regulate the height of
letters. A few light vertical or inclined lines randomly placed help you visually keep
the letters uniformly vertical or inclined.
• Draw vertical strokes downward with a finger movement.
• Draw horizontal strokes from left to right with a wrist movement and without turning
the paper.
• Draw curved strokes and inclined strokes with a downward motion.
• Note for Left Handers: Traditional lettering strokes were designed for righthanded
people. Experiment with each letter to develop a system of strokes that works best
for you.
LETTERING IS EASIER IF YOU REMEMBER TO USE GUIDE LINES
.
References:
Giesecke F.E., Mitchell, A., Spencer, H.C., Hill,I.L., Dygdon, J.T., Novak, J.E., Lockhart,
S.(2009). Technical drawing (13th Edition). Philippines: Pearson Education South Asia
Giesecke F.E., Mitchell, A., Spencer, H.C., Hill,I.L., Dygdon, J.T.(1985). Technical
drawing (7th Edition). New York: Macmillan Publishing Co.
National Building Code of the Philippines
Fundamentals of Engineering drawing, by Waren J. Luzadder
http://tolerancing.net/engineering-drawing/engineering-drawing.html
https://www.indovance.com/knowledge-center/projection-methods-used-in-mechanical-
drawing/
