What font modifications should be made on graphics intended for sandcarving?

If you have produced photomasks, you are familiar with the fonts that look the best. For those fonts that are more challenging, a simple adjustment of adding a stroke will cause the etching to look sandcarve-ready.

If you have a large job with script or small fonts, we recommend sandcarving a sample of the artwork before going into production. This ensures you have no issues with the artwork or sandcarving. Starting with artwork approved for sandcarving is helpful when you are operating a large production run producing hundreds of items quickly.

Our graphic artists recommend adding a stroke to script fonts. It really depends on the size font you are using for the design. If using a script font (on glass), a stroke on the lettering is absolutely necessary, anywhere between 0.15- and 0.5-point stroke is good. The font size for this should ideally not go below 1/8 of an inch if possible.

If using a font that is highly contrasted (on glass) – meaning the font is thick on one side and thin on the other – then a 0.25- to 0.5-point stroke is necessary. The font size for this can start just over 1/16 of an inch around 8 points.

When working with small fonts like government warning labels on the backs of wine bottles, the smallest size should be around 8 points (just over 1/16 of an inch) using a 0.25-point stroke on the lettering if you are not using the bold version of any font. Bold versions of some fonts don’t need to be touched up.

-Liz Haas, Rayzist