Copperplate · worksheet · Published 2026-10-16 · By The Lettering Desk
The 55° slant guide sheet: x-height 5 mm, ascender 7.5 mm, descender 6 mm
Copperplate cannot be written on blank paper. Every letter's axis follows the same slant line, and a guide sheet is what makes that line a physical fact rather than something you are trying to remember. This sheet rules three bands and a set of diagonals: get the bands right and the letters will land in the correct vertical positions even when the shape is still wrong.
- Glyph
- 55° — 55° slant guide sheet — copperplate
- Hand
- Copperplate
- x-height
- 5 毫米
- Nib / brush angle
- 55°（斜度线与笔尖轴线重合）
- Tool
- Gillott 303 / Hunt 101 / Brause 66EF，配斜杆笔
- Stroke order
- 打印 → 校验基线 → 写椭圆 → 写整行（4 strokes）
Sheet specification
| Band | Height | Measured from | Governs |
|---|---|---|---|
| ascender band | 7.5 mm | the ascender line to the baseline | b, d, f, h, k, l and all capitals |
| descender band | 6 mm | the baseline down to the descender line | g, j, p, q, y |
| x-height band | 5 mm | the baseline up to the waist line | a, c, e, m, n, o, r, s, u, v, w, x, z |
| slant | 55° from horizontal | measured at the baseline | every stem in every letter |
| slant spacing | 9 mm between lines | measured along the baseline | two letters fit between adjacent slant lines |
| page | A4 portrait, 16 mm margins | — | 10 lines of practice per sheet |
Why 55° and not 45°
English roundhand and its engraved descendant are built on a slant between 54° and 56°; 55° is the working value in every standard copybook of the period. The number matters because the nib's axis must lie on the same line. With an oblique holder the flange is set so that the nib points along the slant; if you set the sheet at 45° while the holder is set for 55°, the nib ends up crossing its own stroke and the shade lands on the wrong side of every curve.
The way to check is mechanical, not visual: place the holder on the paper with the nib aligned to a slant line and push it away from you. The nib should travel down the line without either edge digging in. If one edge catches, the holder is off by a couple of degrees.
Using the bands
- Write one line of ovals, one per band, filling the x-height exactly and overshooting the waist and baseline by 1 % — about 0.05 mm, which is one hairline.
- Write one line of the ladder letters l, h, k, b, checking that every ascender touches the ascender line without pressing through it.
- Write one line of g and y, checking descenders reach the descender line at the same point in the curve.
- Then write real words. Do not stop using the guide sheet 'once you have the slant' — even full-time calligraphers work on ruled paper, and the sheets they use are ruled to exactly these numbers.
Printing and re-use
Print in a light grey rather than black: a 15 % grey guide sits under the ink without showing through in a scan, and it can be left visible in a finished piece if the sheet is photographed rather than traced over. Print at 100 % and verify the x-height band with a ruler — a 5 mm band that prints at 4.8 mm will pull your whole hand 4 % small over a page, and the error compounds because a smaller x-height makes the shades look heavier.
If you write on tracing paper over the guide, use 60 gsm or heavier; thinner paper creases at the flange and the crease shows as a ridge in every downstroke.
Printable A4, drawn to the worksheet specification — print at 100 % and check one cell with a ruler.
Takeaways
- Slant is 55° from horizontal — the same line as the nib's axis on an oblique holder.
- Bands: x-height 5 mm, ascender 7.5 mm, descender 6 mm; spacing 9 mm between slant lines.
- Verify the printed band with a ruler; a 4 % scale error compounds across a page.
- Print guides in 15 % grey, not black.
- Overshoot the waist and baseline by about 1 %, one hairline, on every round letter.