TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

Ayala Blvd., Ermita, Manila, 1000 Metro Manila

College of Engineering
Civil Engineering Department

Engineering Drawing and Plans (BES12-M)

Assignment #1: Engineering Lettering

Submitted by:
Lolong , Carlo Jhan T.
BSCE- 1E

Submitted to:
Engineer Arnolfo Arcibal
1. Engineering Lettering
Lettering is an impotent part of engineering drawing. It gives information regarding size, and
instructions, in the form of notes and dimension. On a drawing, whole of the written information
is always in the form of lettering. It is not hand written. Also, it may be added here,
that Lettering is appropriate and correct words but not printing.

Lettering

The writing of alphabets and numerals such as A, B, C, D….Z and 0, 1, 2, 3….9, respectively is
called Lettering.
Mainly, there are two types of lettering most commonly used in engineering drawing viz. Gothic
Lettering and Roman Lettering.

Classification Of Lettering

The lettering, in general, is classified in two categories:

 Gothic Lettering
 Roman Lettering.

Gothic Lettering

Lettering having all the alphabets or numerals of uniform thickness is called Gothic Lettering.
 Vertical Gothic Lettering
 Italic or Inclined Gothic Lettering.

Single Stroke Vertical Gothic Lettering

These are vertical letter having thickness of each line of alphabet or numerals etc. Same as the
single stroke of a pencil.Since Stroke means that the letter is written with one or more stems or
curves and each made with single stroke.

Single Stroke Inclined Gothic Lettering

These are single stroke letter inclined at 75' to the Horizontal.

Double Stroke Vertical Gothic Lettering

Vertical letter drawn by double Stroke of pencil with uniform thickness between these strokes
are called Double Stroke Vertical Gothic Lettering.

Double Stroke Inclined Gothic Lettering

Double stroke gothic when inclined at an angle of 75' is called Double Stroke Inclined Gothic
Lettering.

Lower Case Vertical Single Stroke Gothic Lettering

Lower case vertical gothic lettering is shown along with its sizes. Which is quite self explanatory.

Lower Case Vertical Double Stroke Gothic Lettering

It is shown along with its size which is quite self explanatory.

Lower Case Inclined Single Stroke Gothic Lettering

It is shown with its sizes which is self explanatory.

Roman Lettering

The lettering in which all the letters are formed by thick and thin elements is called Roman
Lettering. It may be vertical or inclined or inclined. It can be written with a chisel pointed Pencil
or D-3 type Speed Ball Pen.

Free Hand Lettering

The writing of alphabets without the use of drawing instruments and in free hand is called Free
Hand Lettering. It may be vertical or Inclined Gothic Lettering.
Mechanical Lettering

In Mechanical Lettering, standard uniform characters that are executed with a special pen held
in a scriber and guided by a template. Mechanical lettering does not normally require the use of
lettering guidelines. You will use mechanical lettering principally for title blocks and notes on
drawings, marginal data for special maps, briefing charts, display charts, graphs, titles on
photographs, signs, and any other time that clear, legible, standardized lettering is required.
One of the most popular types of mechanical lettering sets is the LEROY lettering set.
The Mechanical Lettering is sometimes done using special type of device called a Pantograph.
A pantograph is basically a device consisting of four links which are pinned to each other in a
parallelogram fashion. The links can move about the hinge. The lowermost link of the
parallelogram is fixed to two rigid supports. One vertical link at one end is connected to a profile
tracer which traces the profile of the letter to be drawn and the second vertical link and the other
horizontal link are jointly connected to a pencil that draws the exact shape of the profile traced.

Height Of Lettering

The height "h" of the capital letter is taken as the base of dimensioning.
The main requirement of lettering on engineering drawing are legibility, uniformity, ease and
rapidity in execution. Both upright and inclined letter are suitable for general use. All letters
should be capital, except where lower case letters are accepted internationally for abbreviations.

The recommended size of lettering is as under:

ITEM SIZE h,mm
Drawing number in Title Block and letters 10, 12
denoting Cutting Plane Section
Title of Drawing 6, 8
Sub-titles and Headings 3, 4, 5, 6
Notes, such as Legends, Schedules, Material 3, 4, 5
list, Dimensioning
Alteration, Enteries and Tolerances 2,3

Guide Lines

The light thin lines drawn to obtain uniform and correct height of letters are called Guide Lines.
Guide line should be drawn very light and thin, so that, they need not be erased after the
lettering is finished. To erase guide lines after finishing the lettering is not easily possible. Guide
line for capital and lower case lettering.
2. Alphabet of Lines

Line symbols used in technical drawing are often referred to as ALPHABET OF LINES. The
use of line symbols enables engineers/designers to express features of designed products
clearly and accurately. Line features vary not only by width but also by how they are graphically
represented in a drawing. Line significance is conveyed by line weight or thickness of the line.
Every line is drawn at different thickness and darkness to express contrast as well as
importance. Lines that are less important are thin and light. Key to successful drafting is to have
a good technical knowledge of these various line characteristics – to understand where and
when to apply them in technical drawing.

OBJECT OR VISIBLE LINES – Thick dark line use to show outline of object, visible edges and
surfaces.

CONSTRUCTION LINE – Very light and thin line use to construct layout work.

DIMENSION LINE – Thin and dark lines use to show the size (span) of an object with a numeric
value. Usually terminates with arrowheads or tick markings.

HIDDEN LINE – Short dash lines use to show non visible surfaces. Usually shows as medium
thickness.

CENTRE LINE – Long and short dash lines. Usually indicates centre of holes, circles and arcs.
Line is thin and dark.

EXTENSION LINE – Thin and dark line use to show the starting and ending of dimension.

CUTTING PLANE LINE – Extra thick line use to show cutaway views or plane of projection
where a section view is taken. Arrow indicates direction of view.

SHORT AND LONG BREAK LINES –Short and long medium line use to show cutaway view of
a long section.
LEADER LINE – Medium line with arrowhead to show notes or label for size or special
information about a feature.

PHANTOM LINE – Long line followed by two short dashes use to show alternate position of a
moving part.

SECTION LINE – Medium lines drawn at 45 degrees use to show interior view of solid areas of
cutting plane line.