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01

Free Hand
PLATE NO. 1

Lettering
Lettering
Lettering in Engineering Drawing
In engineering drawing, the details about
the object drawn, title of the drawing, scale,
and some other relevant information to
supplement the drawing in the form of
notes, and annotations are given using free-
hand lettering.

The size of letters and numerals should be

in proportion to the size of the body of
drawing; neither too large or nor too small.
PLATE NO. 1
Lettering
Lettering in Engineering Drawing
Lettering is used to provide easy to read
and understand information to supplement
a drawing in the form of notes and
annotations.

Lettering is an essential element in both

traditional drawing and Computer Aided
Design (CAD) drawing.

Thus, it must be written with:

LEGIBILITY - shape and space between
letters and words. PLATE NO. 1

UNIFORMITY - size and line

 01 Vertical Letters and Numerals
Freehand Lettering

Types of
Lettering
02 Inclined Letters and Numerals

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Single Stroke TDRAF
T080

Letters
Single stroke letters are used universally
for technical drawing.
This style is suitable for most purpose
because it possess the qualification
necessary for legibility and speed.

The expression single stroke means the

width of the straight and curved lines that

PLATE NO. 1
forms the letters are the same as the
stoke of the pen or pencil.
Guide Lines TDRAFT
080

The use of light pencil lines.

Guide lines ensure consistency in the size of the

letter characters.
• If your lettering consists of capitals, draw only
the cap line and base line.
• If lowercase letters are included as well, draw the
waist line and drop line.

• The waist line indicates the upper limit of the

lowercase letters.
⚬ The ascender is the part of the lowercase letter that

PLATE NO. 1
extends above the body of the letter; for example, the
dot portion of the character i.
⚬ All ascenders are as high as the caps.
Guide Lines TDRAF
T080

The use of light pencil lines.

• The drop line indicates the lower limit of the

lowercase letters.
⚬ The descender is the part of the lowercase
letter that extends below the body of the letter,
an example being the tail of the character g.

• The vertical distance from the drop line to the

base line is the same as the vertical distance from
the waist line to the cap line.
⚬ It is about one third of the vertical distance between

PLATE NO. 1
the base line and the cap line, or about one half of
the vertical distance between the base line and the
waist line.
Vertical Upper-case Letters and Numerals TDRAF
T080
For convenience in learning the proportions of the letters and numerals, each
character is shown in a grid six units high. Numbered arrows indicate the
order and direction of strokes.
The widths of the letters can be easily remembered.
• The letter I or the numeral 1 has no width.
• The W is 8 units wide (1.3 times the height) and is the widest letter in the
alphabet.
• All the other letters or numerals are either 5 or 6 units wide, and it is easy to
remember the six unit letters because when assembled they spell TOM Q. VAXY
• All numerals except the 1 are 5 units wide.

PLATE NO. 1
Vertical Upper-case Letters and Numerals TDRAF
T080
All horizontal strokes are drawn to the right, and all vertical, inclined, and
curved strokes are drawn downward, the letters are classified as straight-line
letters or curved-line letters.
• The letters O, Q, C, and G are all based on the circle.
• The lower portions of the J and U are semi-ellipses.
• The right sides of the D, P, R, and B are semicircular.
• The 8, 3, S, and 2 are all based on the figure 8, which is composed of a small
ellipse over a larger ellipse.
• The 6 and 9 are based on the elliptical zero. The lower part of the 5 is also
elliptical in shape.

PLATE NO. 1
Based on true circle Lower portion is elliptical
Vertical Lower-case Letters and Numerals TDRAF
T080

• Before beginning a word or line of lower-case letters, the four guide lines
should be drawn. The drop line may be omitted by all except beginners.

• Strokes of the letters extending above the waist line are known as
ascenders, and those extending below the base line as descenders.
• All ascenders extend to the cap line. All descenders extend to the drop
line.
• The 3rd stroke of the letter "e" is slightly above mid-height.
• The dots over the i and j are slightly below the cap line.

PLATE NO. 1
Vertical Lower-case Letters and Numerals TDRAF
T080
• The crosses on the f and t are on the waist line and are symmetrical
with respect to 1st stroke.
• The curved stokes of h, m, n, and r intersect stokes 1 approximately
two-thirds of the distance from the base line to the waist line.
• The descenders of g, j, and y terminate in curves which are tangent to
the drop line,
• Those of p and q terminate in the drop line and do not have the
curves.

PLATE NO. 1
Inclined Capital, Lower-case Letters and TDRAF
T080
Numerals
• The order and direction of the strokes and the proportions of the
inclined capital letters and numerals are the same as those for the
vertical letters except that they are commonly tilted at an angle of
67 ½° (67.5 degrees) from a horizontal guide line.

• Inclined letters are also classified as straight-line or curved line

letters, most of the curves being elliptical in shape.

PLATE NO. 1
Inclined Capital, Lower-case Letters and TDRAF
T080
Numerals

PLATE NO. 1
Inclined Capital, Lower-case Letters and TDRAF
T080
Numerals

PLATE NO. 1
 Lettering Rules
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1. Lettering Type 2. Minimum 3. Uniform Height

The type of lettering Recommended Size All dimension
is recommended by The minimum numerals, notes and
ANSI (American recommended other lettered
National Standards lettering size on information should be
Institute) for engineering drawing the same height
mechanical drafting is 0.125 in (1/8") except for titles,
is single stroke drawing numbers and
gothic (vertical other captions.
freehand lettering).
Titles and subtitles,
for example, may be
LETTERING

0.25 inches (1/4")

high.
 Lettering Rules
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4. Spacing of letters 5. Minimum 6. The space between

The composition or recommended words in a note or
spacing of letters in space sentence
words and between words A minimum should be about the
in a sentence should be recommended space same at the height of
such that the individual between letters in the letters.
letters are uniformly words is
spaced with approximately 0.0625 The horizontal space
approximately equal inches (1/16") between sentences in a
background areas. note or paragraph
should be equal to
This requires the letters twice the height of
LETTERING

such as I, N or S be lettering.
spaced slightly farther
apart from their adjacent
letters than L, A, or W.
 Lettering Rules
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7. All notes should be

lettered horizontally on the
sheet.

8. Pencils
Use 2H, H or F pencils for
lettering. Try them all out but
use the one that gives you the
best results.

Many drafters prefer using a 0.5

mm Mechanical pencils for
LETTERING

lettering.
Examples of Common TDRAFT0
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Mistakes in Lettering

LETTERING
Proper Sketching of Lettering in
Alphabet and in Numerals
19

LETTERING