Warning: my old boss swore by hand lettering for title blocks, but my new shop uses a template

I spent 45 minutes on a single block last week before I switched to the template and got it done in five. The difference was just having everything lined up right the first time, no erasing or measuring. Do you guys still hand letter anything or is it all digital now?

2 comments

2 Comments

wright.michael12d ago

Hand lettering has its place for quick sketches or field notes, but for title blocks that's just making extra work. Templates save so much time and keep things consistent across a whole team. My old shop insisted on hand-drawn borders too, which always felt like a weird pride thing more than practical drafting. Why spend an hour on something a computer can do perfectly in two minutes?

wren_walker6212d agoMost Upvoted

My first engineering job in 2003 still had us fill in title blocks by hand on vellum. The senior guy would check for "character" in your lettering, which just meant slow, messy work. I watched a new hire get chewed out because his computer printed border was "too perfect" and lacked soul. That mindset cost real money in overtime for something a $5 template solves. It was never about quality, just control over how people spent their time.