A lettering guide for technical drawing. At first glance, it contains few identifiable characters: many are broken into two or even three profiles. In some cases, this is a necessity. For example, the two islands in the number 8 would be unsupported if the entire character was a single profile. In traditional templates, this would be handled by adding bridges between the islands and the outside of the character, a solution that is not adequate for technical drawing. Instead, the number is created in two steps: first tracing the oval for the top loop, then sliding the template over and tracing another oval for the bottom loop (see the PDF below for useful diagrams).

In other cases, the character is broken into two pieces even though islands aren't a factor. For example, the letter W is created by first tracing a V shape, then moving the template over and tracing the V again. A single profile could have been used, as it was in later stencils like the Standardgraph, but here the character is broken into two parts. This avoids poorly supported sharp angles in the template. More importantly, it reduces the size of the stencil and the amount of material required. A smaller stencil is also easier to manipulate (Bahr 1912).

Another problem with stencils is that ink tends to bleed under the template or smear when the template is slid over. A variety of solutions were implemented: the Normograph added a clamp that held the template slightly above the paper.