Free · print at 100%

Guide sheets.

A ruled sheet is the invisible half of calligraphy: baseline, x-line, ascender, descender and a slant line, drawn before a single letter is written. These are ruled from the same numbers the specimens on the front page are drawn from, so a sheet cannot drift from the hand it is for. Print at 100% and they suit a 2 mm broad nib.

Foundational

4 nib widths · pen 30°

Heavy line is the baseline. X-height is 4 nib widths — step the nib corner up the page that many times and you have it without measuring anything.

Italic

5 nib widths · pen 42° · slant 8°

Heavy line is the baseline. X-height is 5 nib widths — step the nib corner up the page that many times and you have it without measuring anything.

Uncial

3.5 nib widths · pen 20°

Heavy line is the baseline. X-height is 3.5 nib widths — step the nib corner up the page that many times and you have it without measuring anything.

Textura

5 nib widths · pen 40°

Heavy line is the baseline. X-height is 5 nib widths — step the nib corner up the page that many times and you have it without measuring anything.

Copperplate

Pointed — ratio, not nib widths · slant 30°

Heavy line is the baseline. Pointed pen: the x-height here is a ratio against the ascender rather than a nib count, because there is no nib width to count.

Ruling up, before anything else

Rule in pencil, hard and light, and rule the whole sheet before you write a letter — stopping to rule the next line is how a hand changes halfway down a page. On a commission this is about a third of the hours and none of the photographs.

Stepping the nib

Holding the angle