What is the correct letter spacing in calligraphy?

Standard letter spacing is approximately 15% of x-height between letters. The goal is even optical spacing — the area of white space between each pair of letters should appear equal, even though the actual distances vary with letter shapes.

How wide should word spacing be?

Word spacing should be roughly the width of a lowercase o. Too wide makes text look scattered, too narrow makes words run together. Standard word spacing is about 120% of the average character width.

Does letter spacing vary between scripts?

Yes — Gothic/Blackletter has very tight letter spacing (letters almost touch), Copperplate has moderate spacing, and Italic typically has the widest spacing of the broad-pen scripts. Display lettering uses wider spacing.

How do I achieve even optical spacing?

Focus on the white space between letters rather than the distance between strokes. Two straight-sided letters (HH) need more space, round-to-round (OO) less, and mixed pairs fall in between. Practice with the word "minimum" for consistency.

Should sentence spacing be wider than word spacing?

Traditional calligraphy uses 1.5x the word spacing after a full stop. Modern calligraphy often uses standard word spacing. For formal texts, the wider spacing aids readability.

ArtCalcs

Letter Spacing Calculator — Optimal Calligraphy Spacing

Calculate optimal letter and word spacing for your calligraphy style.

X-Height

Script

Spacing Style

Word Count

For line length estimate

How We Calculate This

How Letter Spacing Calculation Works

Letter spacing = 15% of x-height x Spacing multiplier

Base letter spacing is 15% of x-height, adjusted by the spacing style multiplier. Word spacing is approximately 120% of average character width. The calculator estimates total line length for your word count to help plan text layout.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Last updated: February 2026

All calculations are estimates. Always verify quantities before purchasing materials.