GeneDavis Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 For me it's become Chief Blueprint, and while I used to use all caps, it got looking a little loud and blitzkriegish to me, so I've gone to ordinary capitalization, first word in a phrase or sentence, and all caps for things like model numbers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evolution Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 Several Architect friends advised me (since 2015) to use all caps (except for basic code info sheets and the like (but keep the headings at all caps). I've always used Chief Blueprint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjanderson66 Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 I have always used Caps for my plans with the exception of some notes that I provide. I have never been able to get used to Chief Blueprint font coming from AutoCAD so I have been using Graphite Standard or Architext as they look the best. For the most part Graphite Std. looks the best in my plans gen notes_opt.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneDavis Posted November 11, 2019 Author Share Posted November 11, 2019 Worthy comments. Thanks. As can be seen in the screencaps, Chief Blueprint is quite compact when going lower-case, which I like in plans. Compact seems good to me. The other font shown there is My Hand 2, a free one, which for its lower-case just has shorter capital lettering. It might be a nice alternative for someone using caps with lowercase. You can see from the highlighted text lines that Chief Blueprint needs a deeper text box even if doing all uppercase, because its lowercase letters include font descenders for letters like j and y. My Hand 2 will stack more compactly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renerabbitt Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 Sorry chief but I really dislike your font. The weird bubbly and squigly arms, the narrow bowls, the squigly cross stroke, the loops at apex and vertex, the narrow stem to thick bowl at the foot...all looks very cartoonish...also, a bad habit of mine is recognizing CA font and then for some reason picking apart their work...I'm usually for lifting the community up, I have no idea why I get competitive when seeing this font in plan sets. Personal gripe on my own temperament Graphite Standard was an old favorite I have since left behind Technical is nice but a little too lightweight on ANSI B..moe suitable on ANSI/ARCH D Blueprintdbt is a standard with multiple drafters I collaborate with, it is very very similar to CA's font but slightly less cartoonish...believe it was created by one of our very own users way back...Dan something. Architects Daughter is fun as well as Damned Architect I personally like to stay away from hand drawn looking fonts. I know their is an argument to be made in favor for. Great for small business, that homey feel, personal connection for clients and builders...but their is something so impressive looking about a plan-set drafted with a sans-serif font like Eurostile...I also find it easier to read....look at this way over exposed scan of a plan done with Century Gothic: Overexposed, compressed ANSI D yet still totally legible You'd be hard pressed to find a top tier commercial architecture firm around here that uses any kind of hand lettering font. It's considered unprofessional. Very few people hand drafting anymore, why are we faking it...if my work represents me I don't want any smoke and mirrors...I can't letter for crap, I've got two left hands so-to-speak...why would I try and convince you otherwise, haha. anywho...my two cents 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJohnson Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 Windows 10 users. Did you know about Open Settings, select Personalize, select Fonts A nice way to view all fonts on your computer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaskan_Son Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 2 hours ago, Renerabbitt said: Look at this way over exposed scan of a plan done with Century Gothic: Overexposed, compressed ANSI D yet still totally legible Yep, Looks really nice. I personally use the ole Arial font still. I just feel like it looks nice. And I only use all caps on select text boxes. Mostly I use standard case conventions. I feel like the only real reason for all caps in the first place was to make hand lettering easier and more consistent. Using lower case when appropriate takes up a lot less space and makes things far more readable IMO. It’s more correct too. There are certain things that can only properly be communicated when using the appropriate case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheryl_C_Crane Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 Encino Caps, ChiefBlueprint seems "pasty". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gawdzira Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 I used to use MyHand2. I have gone to Arial. The architectural hand drawing font was a nice ode to when I was hand drawing but that ship has sailed. I want the clearest font possible so I use Arial and in all caps. If my specification call out appears to be that I am screaming, I am. Dogs, kids, carpenters, I yell at anyone that will appear to take me seriously. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe_Carrick Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 I'm with the Arial gang for the most part. Still use CB for a few things but not much. For tables I generally use "Courier New" just because it's one of the few "Fixed Length" Fonts available and it seems to be the cleanest. Here's a list of some other "Fixed Fonts" Consolas DejaVu Sans Mono Letter Gothic Std New Sans Mono Orator Std Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alchemyjim Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 Ariel fan here too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jscussel Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 Arial............. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaskan_Son Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 4 hours ago, Joe_Carrick said: For tables I generally use "Times New Roman" I don’t actually use it for any of my plans but Times New Roman IS my go to font for pretty much all my other business documents (letters, invoices, contracts, etc.). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parkwest Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 Been using arial forever. I think it is a clean, easy to read font. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joey_martin Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 I've moved to TImes New Roman for all plans and docs. Easy to read and prints well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrownTiger Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 My favorite CAD fonts are: Frank the Architect https://www.wfonts.com/font/frank-the-architect Architext https://www.wfonts.com/font/architext Pegasus [Captions] https://fontzone.net/font-details/pegasus-regular Graphite MM https://www.wfonts.com/font/graphite-mm Flux Architect https://www.fontsquirrel.com/fonts/flux 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosco2017 Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 I've been in love with the "Frank the Architect" Font for about a year now. Before that I used Graphite Light. Never cared for Chief Blueprint. When I was using Chief Blueprint I was told once by a builder that my fonts made my prints look "unprofessional" so I switched to Graphite Light. That builder turned out to be an a$$ anyway so why I let that get to me I'll never know. Lol. I understand if you're using bubble letters or something else cartoonish how that could make a print look "unprofessional", but not CB?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheryl_C_Crane Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 Thanks, Ross! I think that I'll try Graphite Light for Notes & Callouts. It looks like a clear clean font. I love Encino Caps for Labels, but some of the numbers are difficult. The last thing we want is numbers that are difficult to read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommy1 Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 Arial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlesVolz Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 23 hours ago, Renerabbitt said: I personally like to stay away from hand drawn looking fonts. I know their is an argument to be made in favor for. Great for small business, that homey feel, personal connection for clients and builders... 23 hours ago, Renerabbitt said: You'd be hard pressed to find a top tier commercial architecture firm around here that uses any kind of hand lettering font. It's considered unprofessional. Very few people hand drafting anymore, why are we faking it... 21 hours ago, Alaskan_Son said: And I only use all caps on select text boxes. Mostly I use standard case conventions. I feel like the only real reason for all caps in the first place was to make hand lettering easier and more consistent. Using lower case when appropriate takes up a lot less space and makes things far more readable IMO. It’s more correct too. There are certain things that can only properly be communicated when using the appropriate case. 20 hours ago, Gawdzira said: The architectural hand drawing font was a nice ode to when I was hand drawing but that ship has sailed. I agree with these guys. I used to use Chief Blueprint, etc. but opted out for cleaner looking and more condensed fonts. I was having trouble with too much congestion in my plans, especially with dimensions. Here is my current thinking: Font Selection Criteria: 1. No hand-drawn looking fonts. (Out of date. Not hand-lettering anymore. Not for commercial. Not good for modern designs.) 2. No all caps fonts. (Out of date. Not hand-lettering anymore. Looks like you are shouting due to texting conventions. Uses more space.) 3. Best legibility for smallest width in lower case, upper case and all caps. (Use line spacing to compact vertically.) 4. Dark enough when not bolded and bolded. Distinguishable between the two. 5. Must be available and look good/compatible in word processor, spreadsheets and CA. I Use: 1st: Myriad Pro/Myriad Pro Condensed (5" dimensions and labels, 3" small notes, 6" & 8" large notes and labels.) 2nd: Arial/Arial Narrow (4 ½" dimensions and labels, 3" small notes, 6" & 8" large notes and labels.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe_Carrick Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 29 minutes ago, CharlesVolz said: Best legibility for smallest width in lower case, upper case and all caps. (Use line spacing to compact vertically.) Charles, Where do you set "Line Spacing" ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJohnson Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 6 minutes ago, Joe_Carrick said: Charles, Where do you set "Line Spacing" ? Paragraph Options Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe_Carrick Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 45 minutes ago, JJohnson said: Paragraph Options OK, so that's in the Rich Text dbx next to the Justification Icons. It's too bad it isn't available for Schedules and Standard Text Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRAWZILLA Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 Arial-all caps here also Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
para-CAD Posted November 13, 2019 Share Posted November 13, 2019 1. ALL CAPS ALWAYS. 2. NEVER HANDWRITTEN LOOKING FONTS (MINIMIZE POTENTIAL CONFUSION ON THE JOB SITE) 3. 3/32" TALL ON LAYOUT PAGE (4.5" ON 1/4" SCALE) SOMETIMES 4 IF NEEDED. 4. SF PRO AND SIMILAR APPLE DISPLAY TYPE FONT PRINT EXTREMELY CLEAR AT SMALL SIZE. i EVEN LIKE THE OLD SIMPLEX8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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