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Size guide
How big should your letters be?
Two things decide it: how far away people are when they read your sign, and how much wall you have. Start with the distance, then check that it fits.
Letter size calculator
A quick estimate in inches (in) and feet (ft). Your drawing shows the exact size.
- Recommended letter height
- Smallest readable
Optional: check that it fits your wall
- Largest that fits edge to edge
- Largest with 60% of the wall open (USSC)
The recommended size does not fit this wall. Try fewer words, two lines or a shorter name.
Rounded to whole inches. Recommended = distance ÷ 10. Smallest = distance ÷ 30. Edge to edge = wall width ÷ characters.
Viewing distance → letter height
Measure from where people first need to read your sign (across the street, the far side of the parking lot, the road out front) to the wall.
Recommended: 1 in for every 10 ft
People read a wall sign at an angle, in quick glances. For wall signs, the United States Sign Council (USSC) uses letters three times the minimum size, because people read fastest at two to three times the minimum.
Minimum: 1 in for every 30 ft
The USSC average for a sign seen head-on in clear conditions. Letters this size can just be read, but not at a glance.
| Viewing distance | Recommended letter height | Smallest readable |
|---|---|---|
| 30 ft | 3 in | 1 in |
| 60 ft | 6 in | 2 in |
| 90 ft | 9 in | 3 in |
| 120 ft | 12 in | 4 in |
| 180 ft | 18 in | 6 in |
| 240 ft | 24 in | 8 in |
| 300 ft | 30 in | 10 in |
| 360 ft | 36 in | 12 in |
- Letter height means the height of a capital letter. Lowercase letters are shorter.
- Text in all capital letters needs letters about 15% taller than upper and lower case to read from the same distance.
- On a busy street (traffic lights, parked cars, many other signs) USSC cuts the reading distance by about a third, from 30 to 20 ft per inch. Choose larger letters there.
- Font, colors and lighting change the numbers too. Across the fonts, colors and lighting USSC tested, the figure ran from 20 to 38 ft per inch.
How far away can a letter be read?
Past these distances people can see there is a sign, but cannot make out the words.
| Letter height | Reads at a glance | Readable up to, clear view | Readable up to, busy street |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 in | 60 ft | 180 ft | 120 ft |
| 8 in | 80 ft | 240 ft | 160 ft |
| 12 in | 120 ft | 360 ft | 240 ft |
| 18 in | 180 ft | 540 ft | 360 ft |
| 24 in | 240 ft | 720 ft | 480 ft |
| 30 in | 300 ft | 900 ft | 600 ft |
| 36 in | 360 ft | 1,080 ft | 720 ft |
Many sign-shop charts list longer distances, for example 12 in letters readable from 525 ft (about 44 ft per inch). The USSC figures come from tests with viewers of all ages and are shorter, so we use them. Those same charts put the best-impact distance at 10 ft per inch, the same as our recommended size.
These are general guidelines, not a guarantee. Eyesight, weather, viewing angle, font and colors all change how far a sign can be read.
Sources: USSC Foundation, Best Practice Standards for On-Premise Signs (legibility index, wall signs, copy area); Signs Now, sign visibility chart (industry chart).
Make it fit your wall
Once you know the height you want, check that the words fit the space with room around them.
Width: about one letter height per character
A letter plus the gap beside it takes up roughly a square, as wide as it is tall. USSC sizes signs this way. So a sign is about as wide as the number of characters times the letter height. Wide fonts and all caps run wider; narrow fonts run narrower.
Example ROSA BAKERY is 11 characters with the space. At 18 in: 11 × 18 in = 198 in, about 16½ ft wide.
Height: keep 60% of the wall open
USSC recommends that the letters and the gaps between them cover no more than 40% of the background, leaving at least 60% open so the words stand out. On a storefront, the background is the fascia or wall band behind the letters.
Example A 20 ft × 3 ft fascia with 11 characters: √(0.4 × 240 in × 36 in ÷ 11) ≈ 17.7 in, so letters of about 17 in.
Logos and two lines
A logo or symbol counts as part of the lettered area, so leave room for it. For two lines of text, check the width of each line on its own.
Check your local sign rules first
Many cities limit how much sign area a building can have and require a permit for a new sign. Shopping centers and landlords often have their own rules too. Check the limits before you order and send them with your quote request. We size the drawing to fit.
What channel letters cost
Letter height changes the price. See what else does, and how payment works.