Calligraphy Guideline Sheet Maker
Set your x-height, ratio and slant, then print guidelines at true size.
What each guideline is for
Calligraphy guidelines are a set of horizontal lines that fix the height of every part of a letter. Most sheets use four lines per row:
- Baseline: the line every letter sits on.
- Waistline (x-height line): the top of short lowercase letters such as a, c, e, m, n, o and x. The space between the baseline and the waistline is the x-height.
- Ascender line: the top of tall lowercase strokes in letters such as b, d, h, k and l. Capitals usually reach to or just below it.
- Descender line: the bottom of strokes that drop below the baseline, as in g, j, p, q and y.
The line labels option in the maker prints these names in the margin, which helps while you learn which part of a letter belongs where. Turn it off once you no longer need them.
Choosing an x-height for your pen
The x-height should suit the size of the mark your pen makes. Too small and the thick strokes fill the letter. Too large and the strokes look thin and wobbly.
- Small brush pens (such as a Tombow Fudenosuke): a larger x-height, around 8 to 10 mm, gives room for the pressure changes.
- Large brush pens (such as a Tombow Dual Brush): go bigger, often 12 mm or more, because the downstrokes are much wider.
- Pointed nibs for copperplate and Spencerian: smaller x-heights, around 5 to 7 mm, are typical.
- Broad-edge nibs and chisel markers for italic and gothic: the x-height is measured in nib widths. Rule a short ladder of square marks with your nib turned sideways, then set the x-height to match. Italic is often written around 5 nib widths high.
If you are unsure, print one sheet at the preset size, write a line, and adjust by a millimeter or two until the thick strokes look balanced against the white space.
Ratios by style
The ratio sets how tall the ascender and descender spaces are compared with the x-height. It is written as ascender : x-height : descender. A 3:2:3 ratio, used for copperplate, means the ascender space is one and a half times the x-height. Script styles have tall ascenders and small x-heights. Broad-edge styles such as gothic have a large x-height and short ascenders.
Each style preset in the maker loads the ratio and slant below. Pick a preset to start, then switch to custom if you want to change anything.
| Style | Family | Tool | Slant | Ratio | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Modern calligraphy | Pointed pen | brush pen or pointed nib | 80° | 1.5:1:1.5 | 2/5 |
| Copperplate | Pointed pen | oblique holder + flexible pointed nib | 55° | 3:2:3 | 4/5 |
| Spencerian | Pointed pen | oblique holder + fine flexible nib | 52° | 3:1:2 | 5/5 |
| Brush lettering | Brush | brush pen (small or large tip) | upright | 1:1:1 | 2/5 |
| Gothic (blackletter) | Broad-edge | broad-edge nib or chisel marker | upright | 0.4:1:0.4 | 3/5 |
| Italic | Broad-edge | broad-edge nib or chisel marker | 83° | 0.7:1:0.7 | 3/5 |
| Faux calligraphy | Monoline | any pen | upright | 1:1:1 | 1/5 |
These are working proportions, not fixed laws. Historical hands and individual calligraphers vary, especially in modern calligraphy, where breaking the proportions is part of the style.
Slant lines
Slant lines are diagonal lines across the row that show the angle of your downstrokes. The angle is measured from the horizontal baseline, so 90 degrees is upright and smaller numbers lean further to the right. Copperplate uses about 55 degrees and Spencerian about 52. Italic leans only slightly.
You do not need to follow a slant line with every stroke. Use them to check that your downstrokes stay parallel to each other. The slant line spacing setting controls how far apart they are. Closer lines are easier to follow. Wider spacing keeps the page less busy.
Upright styles such as gothic and brush lettering have no slant lines by default. Set the slant to 90 to turn them off for any style.
Printing at 100%
The maker draws the sheet in millimeters, so it only stays accurate if your printer does not resize it.
- Choose US Letter or A4 in the maker to match your paper.
- Press Print and, in the print dialog, set the scale to 100% or "actual size". Turn off "fit to page" or "shrink to fit".
- After printing, measure one x-height with a ruler. If it does not match the number you set, check the scale setting and print again.
You can also download the sheet as an SVG and print it from another program. The same rule applies: print at 100%.
Prefer a ready-made sheet? The practice sheets page has free guideline PDFs for every style, plus drills and alphabets. Compare the styles themselves on the calligraphy styles page.