Selecting Changeable Letter Size

Spend your money wisely, always make sure customers can read your letter copy

So deciding on the right letter height is very important. The right size letter is a function of a couple of things:

The speed of the passer by that you would like to read your message

How far away that person is as they pass by

How much message is on the sign.

The length of the letter track line

Following is what we typically suggest but it is really up to you to judge the factors that impact your site and we can help you decide.

Letter Size
4 inch
6 inch
8 inch
10 inch

Traffic Speed
25 to 35 MPH
35 to 45 MPH
45 to 55 MPH
65 MPH

Viewing Distance Feet
less than 200
less than 300
less than 400
less than 500

A test for letter size
While some sign companies give you a paper letter to cut out of the catalog and ask you to place it on a stick or hold it up in the position of your new sign we do not. We don’t because there is another factor that impacts letter size and that is – How much message do you have up there? Looking at one letter on a stick does not give good results. If your messages are short and to the point then smaller letters could be fine. If your messages tend to be longer, then larger letters will increase the speed of recognition of your message. We suggest that you locate a sign in your area that contains about the same amount of copy you would use, on a street with the same speed limit, with the same basic distance to the viewers, and then measure the letters on that sign so you know exactly what size they are. Then get in the flow of traffic and see how well you read the message. If you are trying to decide between 4 inch and 6 inch letters find one of each sign to compare the experience.

Remember these points also:

There is a point in terms of message length where only people who can read the message are walking by and need to stop to read it all. Trying to put too much message up on the sign is not good.

Regular customers tend to be looking for your message and can generally read smaller letters. New customers may need larger letters to pick up your message.

The length of the letter track line also impacts your decision.
Each letter size and letter style takes up a different amount of space on a line of letter track. For example, a 5 foot line of letter track would hold about the following quantity of letters and spaces in the following letter sizes and styles.

Modern Style
4 inch - 16 letters
6 inch - 12 letters
8 inch - 9 letters
10 inch - 7 letters

Condensed Style
4 inch - 21 letters
6 inch - 15 letters
8 inch - 9 letters
10 inch - 9 letters

ADM Style
4 inch - 14 letters
6 inch - 10 letters
8 inch - 7 letters
10 inch - 6 letters

We figure that a line of track should hold around 15 letters and spaces to be effective. Therefore to meet this suggestion for a track that is 5 feet long one could probably get by with any 4 inch letter style or the 6 inch condensed style. Here again this depends on your typical type of message requirements. One can use the 5 foot table and adjust the information to approximate letter track line lenghts of 6, 8, 10, or 12 feet.