Choose a script and matching practice materials, compare letterforms, proof a real-size layout, and prepare a digital copy with checked dimensions.
Choose a lesson or exemplar for the script you want to learn. Check its prerequisite skills and supply list: pointed pen, broad edge and brush techniques use different tools and movements. Test your chosen pen, ink and paper together on a spare sheet for flow, feathering and drying before using presentation stock.
Prepare the guidelines specified by your lesson. Practice a small group of strokes or related letterforms, then compare their slant, spacing, joins and proportions with the exemplar. Mark one recurring difference and repeat that exercise with a deliberate correction. Date a sample so you can compare it with later work.
Confirm spelling, names, punctuation and any required wording before making the finished piece. Count the text as an inventory if useful, but arrange pencil or practice-paper lettering at the actual size. Mark the usable area, baseline positions and margins. Check optical spacing and line breaks using the drawn letters.
Repeat your material test on the intended stock. Transfer the approved layout lightly using a method suited to that surface, then letter in an order that avoids smudging wet areas. Let the work dry and inspect wording, spacing and stray marks under good light. Decide whether a correction is acceptable for the intended finish before attempting it.
Photograph the work square-on with even light or scan it using settings appropriate to the intended output. Keep the original capture. Correct crop and alignment in an editor, then calculate any target pixel dimensions. Apply them to a copy, inspect the actual exported image and compare a print proof when print output is intended.
Count words and characters in the exact text; this does not measure rendered width, which needs an actual-size lettering proof.
Compare the proportions of the intended design area before lettering the layout.
Plan whole-pixel export dimensions and apply them in an image editor.
Record sRGB values for digital overlays; compare physical ink and printed colour with real samples.
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IAMPETH recommends examining portfolios and teaching samples and checking class format, prerequisites, supplies and included materials. Match instruction to your intended script.
Keep one record for the physical piece and one for the digital output.
| Stage | Evidence to retain |
|---|---|
| Practice | Lesson/exemplar, guidelines, dated sample and next correction |
| Layout | Approved wording and actual-size proof |
| Finished work | Material test and inspected original |
| Digital copy | Original capture, edited copy and checked export dimensions |
Repeat the same short word while adjusting one feature, such as spacing, so the comparison is useful.
Save the paper and ink names beside the capture settings. A screen value alone does not describe the original materials.