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Figure 5-53.-inclined letter formation.
Figure 3-54.-Letterspacing.
inclination is 67 1/2 degrees from the horizontal.
Inclined guidelines may be drawn with the
lettering triangle as described, or a line at the
proper angle may be laid off with the protractor
and parallel lines constructed from it. Horizontal
guidelines and sequence of strokes are the same
as for vertical letters. Rules of stability,
proportion, and balance are similar. The circles
and circular arcs used in vertical letters become
elliptical in inclined letters, their major axes
making angles of 45 degrees with the horizontal.
Letters such as A, M, V, and Y should be made
symmetrically about a guideline. Inclined lower-
case letters follow the same principles as inclined
capitals.
COMPOSITION OF LETTERING
Once you have learned the proper shapes and
strokes required to form each letter and numeral,
you should concentrate on practicing the
composition of words and sentences. Proper
spacing of letters and words does more for the
appearance of a block of lettering than the forms
of the letters themselves. But this does not mean
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that you should discontinue further practice of
correctly forming each letter.
LETTERSPACING
In straight-line lettering, determine the
spacing between letters by eye after making the
first letter and before making each succeeding
letter. To give a word the appearance of having
uniformly spaced letters, make the areas between
the letters nearly equal, as shown in figure 3-54.
The areas between adjacent letters in a word vary
with respect to whether the letters have straight
sides (H, I, M, N) or slanted sides (A, V, W) and
whether the letters are round (O, Q, C, G) or open
(L, J). Adjacent straight-sided letters are drawn
farther apart than are adjacent round letters.
Adjacent slant-sided and open letters are drawn
nearer together than are adjacent round letters.
Where letters L and T, L and V, A and V, and
other pairs of like shape come together in a word,
the top of one may have to be drawn above the
bottom of the other to avoid having the word
appear as two or more words. In letterspacing,
the six problems listed below are the hardest to
solve. The first five problems are solved by
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