Fonts on Civil Engineering Drawings - what ot use?

Afternoon

 

Just testing the water really as to what fonts everyone use or would recommend to use on drawings?

 

Currently we use RomonS with a 0.8 width factor but a few of the CAD users here have said that this is outdated and recommend we use Arial so wanted peoples advice and experienced.

 

Many Thanks

we have people come in and ask the same question.

 

We use simplex.shx and will continue as we like it. Its clear and readable and being a shx font is quick with a low (file size) overhead.

We do not, as a matter of practice, use TTF (TrueType fonts) in our drawings for basically the reasons given by dbroada. We use a custom font called Ufroman4 that makes a clear distinction between the number "1" and a lower case letter "l" and between the numeral "0" and a capital "O".

 

I'd stay away from Arial in particular because depending on which OS one is using there are slight variations used and they do not become apparent until one starts sharing drawings with others outside their company. There have been several threads re: problems with Arial style fonts.

We still use Romans for notes and annotations. And anything in the drawing template (project title, number, revision, drawing notes, etc.) we will use a custom Arial font.

 

Unless the client has a preferred style

We used to use simplex for the above stated reasons. Custom fonts are frowned upon in a collaborative environment. As we are heading towards becoming a primarily Revit office we are implementing Arial into our AutoCAD for consistency.

We used to use simplex for the above stated reasons. Custom fonts are frowned upon in a collaborative environment. As we are heading towards becoming a primarily Revit office we are implementing Arial into our AutoCAD for consistency.

 

That seems a bit backwards of Revit if you are having to change your standards because of one piece of software.

Readability Readabilty Readbility thats what really counts as posts above have said also, our sheets are A1 but normally we produce A3 which is half scale so readability can creep in. Some plans must be submitted to certain authorities and they dictate what font is to be used, compare fonts with the number 4 and zero in particular v's "O"

 

Arial is good but can become bold very quick when text is printed at 1.8mm we would use Isocp which is a single line stick font. Playing with width to thin it I don't think is a good idea.

Readability Readabilty Readbility thats what really counts as posts above have said also, our sheets are A1 but normally we produce A3 which is half scale so readability can creep in. Some plans must be submitted to certain authorities and they dictate what font is to be used

 

Likewise.

 

Arial is good but can become bold very quick when text is printed at 1.8mm we would use Isocp which is a single line stick font. Playing with width to thin it I don't think is a good idea.

 

We also use Isocop as well.

At my work we used ISO3098b for rail and structural jobs.

 

And Arial / other acceptable fonts for Road/Highways

 

I have found advantages and disadvantages to both but you can work around any problems easily

 

The reason we chose these fonts is because of client and government standards.

 

It doesn't really matter what font you use as long as in your project/workplace CAD manual you state a few things

- all dementions must be in _____ font

- all leader must be in _____ font

- all notes must be in ____ font e.c.t.

What is the advantage to using a different font for dimensions, leaders and notes? It seems counterproductive.

What is the advantage to using a different font for dimensions, leaders and notes? It seems counterproductive.

 

Perhaps turtle meant to refer to font styles.

Where I work we use different fonts between the model space and title block+notes as an intuitive measure - so effectively type in Arial applies to the entire page, and type in Romans applies to individual parts of the drawing (unless otherwise stated...). And similar to as turtle said: this information will be included on the first page of the drawing set.

Edited November 20, 2013 by Barneel

There is a big difference between a font style (ex. - normal, bold or italic) and different fonts (ex. - Roman, Lucinda, Times Roman, Arial, etc.).

Aye, there is. But without knowing if he has a good reason for the variation in font I would assume it's a typo. That many different fonts are bound to confuse more than anything. Unless he's referring to the variations of the same font (eg. Arial, Arial Black, Arial Narrow, Arial Rounded MT Bold, Arial Unicode...)

Afternoon

 

Just testing the water really as to what fonts everyone use or would recommend to use on drawings?

 

Currently we use RomonS with a 0.8 width factor but a few of the CAD users here have said that this is outdated and recommend we use Arial so wanted peoples advice and experienced.

 

Many Thanks

Although I'm in the Facilities Engineering division of my company, we are 75% a civil firm. We have just transitioned the entire company to Arial font for many reasons. Some reasons include:

 

• SHX fonts are dated. AutoCAD's performance can handle TTF fonts.
  
• TTF fonts cannot be override by any CTB/STB plot style, inherently maintaining consistent visual standards.
  
• Arial is ubiquitous and the font style well known, clean, clear, legible, and generally accepted as having a professional look.
  
• Windows Character Map symbols are directly compatible.
  
• It is consistent with other newer CAD platforms that have emerged on the market in recent years, such as Revit, which gives a consistent standard across the board.
  
• SHX fonts are not searchable in vector PDF outputs. TTF fonts are, which allows end users to leverage this powerful tool with large sets.
  
• Arial is one of twelve default fonts that is implanted into Windows OS along with other devices and platforms, maximizing compatibility even further.
  

 

These are the general reasons why our CAD Standards Committee has recently switched the entire company. Hope this may help you in making a decision for or against making the switch to Arial.

 

- Tannar

Sorry Tanner but I don't share your enthusiasm for the use of Arial fonts.

 

How does one override a font using a plotstyle? I've never had the opportunity to do so but have been asked in the past if it were possible.

Most of you "old schoolers" don't (BURN!! haha). And I'm 95% in Revit nowadays which doesn't have SHX fonts so it doesn't bother me anyways. My sharing was technically from a totally different department altogether.

 

 

*EDIT*

One reason to be enthusiastic comes with the ability to search PDF's. When you have a 100+ page set, all SHX fonts... it's just ridiculous that you can't leverage Ctrl+Find in Adobe Reader. Things like this to me gives good reason to transition with the times.

Fine. But what about overriding a font with a plotstyle. How is that accomplished? Sounds interesting.

Fine. But what about overriding a font with a plotstyle. How is that accomplished? Sounds interesting.

It's called, Arial Bold.

I don't follow. Where in the CTB or STB can one override the font?

 

The only way I know of that a font end up looking different is if AutoCAD cannot find the one specified in the drawing itself and substitutes a different one or, as I have come to find out, in the case of TTF fonts the OS being used has a slightly different style of the font despite the name of the font being the same. This problem has been the topic of some threads here at CADTutor in the past. If I recall correctly one of the fonts in question was Arial MT.

Edited November 20, 2013 by ReMark

I don't follow. Where in the CTB or STB can one override the font?

Sorry I misread your previous post. SHX fonts can be controlled by lineweights, TTF fonts cannot. Just give it a shot and you will see.