How big should the letters on my sign be, and how much empty space should I leave around them?

Letter height comes from viewing distance

Sign makers publish a simple rule: 1 inch of letter height gives about 10 feet of best-impact reading distance. Letters stay readable much farther than that, but with less punch.

A second sign supplier uses 30 feet of legibility per inch for indoor signs and smaller copy, and reserves the best-impact figure for the name or headline. So size the main line by the 10 feet rule and let secondary lines run smaller.

Leave room to breathe

Sources agree on the principle and differ on the number. One national sign company says to keep at least 30 to 40 percent of the sign face as empty space. Another supplier teaches a 40/60 rule: copy fills about 40 percent and 60 percent stays open. Either way, a sign filled edge to edge reads worse than a smaller message with space around it.

Other habits the same educators teach:

• Thin letters are harder to read. Choose a simple, bold style.
• Mixed upper and lower case reads better at distance than all capitals.
• Use no more than two fonts in one design.
• Letters packed tightly together lose legibility, even when they are large.
• High contrast between letters and background matters more as distance grows.

Doing it in the software

1. Work out the distance, then the letter height for the main line.
2. Use Create Text in Text in a Box mode. Its Margin Size setting builds the margin for you: Normal fits the text within 80 percent of the box width, leaving 10 percent each side, and Wide uses 60 percent, leaving 20 percent each side.
3. Center the block with the Align tools (F9 centers the selection in the material).
4. Adjust kerning by clicking between two letters with the text selection cursor to close the gap, or Shift and click to open it.
5. Use Space Selection in the Align tools to space several lines or objects evenly.

Pro tips

• Print a word or two at full size and tape it to a wall before committing wood. One supplier recommends exactly this test.
• Carving adds its own limit. See the entry on picking a font that carves well and the entry on minimum detail size.