Engineering lettering is the act of placing precise handwriting on technical drawings to provide important information such as titles, dimensions, and notes. Lettering gives pertinent details and helps convey ideas clearly. Drawings with poor lettering quality are spoiled, regardless of how well-drawn other elements are. There are various lettering styles like single stroke Gothic, Roman, and Italic as well as text styles. Letters have standardized height-to-width proportions that can be normal, compressed, or extended depending on available space. Guidelines are essential for regulating letter height, spacing, and alignment on drawings.

1. Department of Natural Sciences
ED432 – Expanded Drawing
Engineering Lettering
ED432

2. Department of Natural Sciences
ED432 – Expanded Drawing
Lettering
- The act of placing handwriting on a technical
drawing.
- Writing of titles, dimensions, notes and other
important particular on a drawing
IMPORTANCE
- Gives pertinent information
- Records ideas and help transmit these ideas
- No matter how nice the drawing is, if the letterings
are poor, the entire drawing will be spoiled

3. Department of Natural Sciences
ED432 – Expanded Drawing
Style of Letters
1. Single Stroke Gothic Lettering Style –
formed with a series of single strokes that are
wide as the pencil point or drawing pen

4. Department of Natural Sciences
ED432 – Expanded Drawing
Style of Letters
2. Roman Letters– all letters having
“accented” stroke or consisting of heavy and
light or thick and thin lines.

5. Department of Natural Sciences
ED432 – Expanded Drawing
Style of Letters
3. Italic Letters– all slanting letters are
classified as Italics.

6. Department of Natural Sciences
ED432 – Expanded Drawing
Style of Letters
4. Text Letters– these includes all styles of old
English, German text, Bradley text or other
various trade names.

7. Department of Natural Sciences
ED432 – Expanded Drawing
Proportion of Letters
1. Normal Letters – when letters are drawn neither
too narrow nor too wide.
I – 6 units H & 0 unit W
T O M Q V A X Y – 6 units H & 6 units W
W – 6 units H & 8 units W
Remaining letters – 6 units H & 5 units W

8. Department of Natural Sciences
ED432 – Expanded Drawing
Proportion of Letters
2. Compressed Letters –these letters are narrow in
width in proportion to the height and are used when
spaced is limited.
3. Extended Letters – these letters are wider than
the normal letters and are used when the space is
very wide.

9. Department of Natural Sciences
ED432 – Expanded Drawing
Stability
- The upper portion of certain letters and numerals
are reduced in size where possible to produce the
effect of stability and a more pleasing appearance.
- The central horizontal strokes of the letters B, E, F
and H are drawn slightly above the center.

10. Department of Natural Sciences
ED432 – Expanded Drawing
Guidelines
- Absolutely essential for good letterings
- May be light horizontal type used to regulate the
height of letters
- May be light vertical lines used to keep letters
uniformly vertical
- Fine, light, straight and parallel with cap line and
base line identified for upper case letters and with
waist line and drop line for lower case letters.

11. Department of Natural Sciences
ED432 – Expanded Drawing
Guidelines

12. Department of Natural Sciences
ED432 – Expanded Drawing
Spacing of Letters and Words
- The background areas between letters, not the
distances between them, should be approximately
equal.

13. Department of Natural Sciences
ED432 – Expanded Drawing
Spacing of Letters and Words
- Space words well apart, but space letters closely
within words.

14. Department of Natural Sciences
ED432 – Expanded Drawing
PLATE 2: CAPITAL LETTERS