Single word and multiple word sizing are similar…but different…and I am always happy to create a drawing for you to visualize your font selection for your custom name, word, or string.
If your purchase is for a single name or word, the “Size & No. Letters” selection is determined on how tall you wish your word to be from the lowest point of the word to the highest point of the word and number of letters in the word you wish to be cut. The tallest letter is usually the first letter if it is capitalized, otherwise, letters such as b, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, p, q, t, y, and in some fonts, z will govern the height. If, for example, your word choice is “Edwards” and you select the size 6″Hx18″W 7 Letter, the first letter, “E” will be 6″ in height and the lowercase letters will be sized as they would normally appear in proportion to the Script Font that you choose, and the entire piece will be 18″ wide. If you want all lowercase letters in the same example above, the d would govern the height limitations for the word at 6″ tall. Please be aware, too, that if you select a word with letters hanging below the line, like “laugh”, the height limitation is based on the lowest point, the bottom of the “g”, and the highest point, the top of the “l” and “h”.
See the Example below:
There are also some fonts, as shown in “Edwards” above, whose letters you would normally find that rest on the line, are designed to hang below the line. As you see, in this example, the “E” would govern the height here.
If you have a 2-word name (or even several words that you want to maintain their proportion to one another), for example you decide you want “amee lesley” all lowercase at 8″H size, you would purchase an 8Hx12W 4 Letter and an 8Hx18W 6 letter. Please pay special attention, like in this example, if your 2-word name has a letter that drops below the line, like the “y” in “lesley” as well as tall letters above the line. Height sizing comes from the lowest point of your entire string of words/names to the highest point of your entire string of words/names when you tell us you want them to be proportional. The width of the string of words/names, touching side by side, will be the sum of the widths of your size selection…so in this example, 12+18= 30″W. See the drawing below.
It is important that you let us know that you want the names proportional to each other as the font creates it. In this example, “amee” has no letters that are tall and no letters that fall below the line, however, wanting the words to be proportional makes “lesley” govern the size. So, the height of “lesley” will be 8″ from the bottom of the “y” to the top of the “l”, and “amee” will be proportionally scaled to “lesley” (amee will be less than 8″). If you are unsure about how the words/names will look, please send me a message to create a drawing for you before you purchase. I do this ALL THE TIME. Letting me know what your goals are for your name(s)/ word(s) ahead of time will help you to get the item(s) that you envisioned.
As I have shown, single word sizing is proportioned to itself to fit the predetermined dimensions that are stated in the listing. With Multiple word sizing, each word is proportioned to the sum of the widths of the string of words for the height and number of letters that is selected. This is why it is extremely important to alert me at checkout in the “Note to Seller” when multiple words are being purchased and need to be proportional to one another.
See the Example below:
Line one shows the words as if they would be purchased as the listing dimensions are stated. “Two” and “One” are the same length and height, and “souls” and “pulse” are also the same length and height since each pair has the same number of letters in each word. Using 8″H, for example, “Two” and “One” are 8″H X 9″W each and “souls” and “pulse” are 8″H X 15″W each. You can notice the difference in proportion if you take a close look at the “o” in “Two” and “souls”, the “e” in “One” and “pulse”, as well as the “u” in “souls” and “pulse”.
To make your string of words proportional to one another with the way the font creates it, as in Line 2, all that needs to be done is to alert me that you want the words you are purchasing to be proportional to one another. Your sizing of your entire string of words will be designed around the limits of your letter boundaries…the extreme top and bottom and left and right of the whole string. Keep in mind, even if one letter falls below the base line, like in the example above, the whole string of words is measured from that single low point to the highest point to enable the correct vertical proportioning and pricing of the word string.
Letter structure of each font are all different…different heights, widths, and location along the baseline. My listing dimensions are a good estimate of the width of how a font may produce the end result of a word at the said height. I set those dimensions so that pricing could be established. If it is determined that the font produces a word to be too wide for the stated dimension, I condense it. Likewise, if the end result is smaller than the stated dimension, then I will stretch it. I make the word or string of words fit within the dimensional limitations that I have stated in the listing. Believe it or not, the integrity of the word remains, and there is no distortion.
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