Free tool

Street Sign Editor

A street name blade is not typesetting by eye. Type a name and this lays it out to the standards: FHWA alphabet letter widths and pair spacing, MUTCD capital heights by road class, blade sizes on the 6-inch grid — and it names the rule behind every dimension. Free to use — agencies welcome.

Type IV — the common agency minimum for street name signs.

48″ from the legend

Letterforms are the FHWA Standard Alphabets’ own outlines (2000 edition); spacing and every dimension come from the published charts.

Highway green (Pantone 342) · High-intensity prismatic

Get these madeFree to use — agencies welcome.

Why every dimension is what it is

  • Legend seriesFHWA Series D[us]
  • Blade colourgreen[us]
  • Sheeting gradehigh-intensity (minimum high-intensity)[us]
  • Capital height6″ — Post-mounted, multilane, speed limit 40 mph or less.[us]
  • Letter caseMixed case (initial capital + lowercase) — MUTCD 11th Ed. §2D.45 ¶05 Standard[us]
  • Border0.5″ wide at the panel edge (inset 0″), corner radius 1.5″ — SHS D3-1 sheet 1 (border may be omitted on post-mounted blades, 2D.45 ¶24)[us]
  • Blade height12″ (edge margin 3″, border 0.5″)[us]
  • Word spacing1.0× cap height between words (SHS Design Guidelines 1–1.5× floor); gaps beside the 4″ suffix/descriptor runs keyed to the SMALLER run's cap (4″) — field-measured 0.45–0.68× name cap on COS blades, vs 1.0× name cap under the old rule[us]
  • Blade width48″ auto — legend 40.1″ + 2 × 3″ margin, rounded up to the 6″ grid[us]
  • Vertical budget2.25″ + 6″ caps + 1.5″ descender allowance (0.25×cap — FHWA mixed-case convention) + 2.25″ = 12″ blade — margin modelled to the baseline, descenders may intrude into the lower margin zone[us]
  • SidesDouble sided — identical legend both faces, standard for cross-street mounting[us]

Letter height is the law

MUTCD Section 2D.43 sets capital heights by road class and speed — 6-inch capitals on most streets, taller on multilane roads over 40 mph. The blade grows to fit the name at that height; the letters never shrink to fit the blade.

Spacing comes from tables

The FHWA Standard Alphabets publish exact letter widths and letter-pair spacing — an A next to a V sits tighter than an H next to an H. This editor lays your name with those tables, the same way the sign is fabricated.

Your agency's rules apply

Colour, sheeting grade and NO OUTLET treatment vary by jurisdiction. Pick yours and the readout names which layer — federal, state or city — set each rule. When you are ready, send the design to us and we will make the signs to it.