How it works
Lettering styles, one a row: serif, sans serif, slab, block capitals, script, brush, monoline, marker, blackletter, uncial, stencil, shadow, inline, western, typewriter and pixel. The sheet draws your word in all sixteen, in that order, on three pages.
Read the full guide
The face that stands for each style
Page one: Playfair Display (serif), Poppins (sans serif), Alfa Slab One (slab), Bebas Neue (block capitals), Dancing Script (script) and Kaushan Script (brush). Page two: Sacramento (monoline), Permanent Marker, Grenze Gotisch (blackletter), Uncial Antiqua, Allerta Stencil and Bungee Shade (shadow). Page three: Bungee Inline, Rye (western), Special Elite (typewriter) and Press Start 2P (pixel).
Different types of letter styles, told apart
A serif is the small stroke at the end of a larger one. Sans serif letters have none, and a slab serif is thick and block-like. Script follows handwriting. Stencil letters are cut through by bridges, so their middles stay attached.
- Bebas Neue, Bungee Shade and Bungee Inline have capitals only, so their rows turn small letters into capitals.
- Look set to Pen weight thickens the strokes a little; Bungee Shade stays as it is.
Questions and answers
What is the difference between serif and sans serif lettering?
Serif letters end their strokes in small extra strokes, and sans serif letters do not. Compare the first two rows: Playfair Display has a fine serif on every stem, and Poppins ends each stroke plain.
What are brush lettering styles?
Lettering whose strokes look made by a wet brush, not a pen nib: less formal, and changing in width as they go. Kaushan Script, row six, is the example here, beside the pen-like Dancing Script in row five.
How is blackletter different from uncial?
Blackletter, popularly called Gothic, began as a medieval book hand; Grenze Gotisch draws it with heavy, angular strokes. Uncial is older and round, a script written entirely in capitals from the 4th to the 8th centuries. Rows nine and ten show both.
Can I see the different types of lettering styles (alphabet)?
Yes. After your first change, pick Aa Bb Cc from the list for three letters in every style. For A to Z in one style, open More options, set Kind of sheet to Letter grid, empty the box and pick a font tile.