Online auctions offer a treasure trove of lost or forgotten merchandise, and many items pertaining to lettering just beg to be digitized into a typeface. Case in point is a partial set of brass stencils that were the visual model for Ultra Thin Stencil JNL. While most of the brass interlocking stencils available now and in the past have bold lettering for easy readability, this particular set consisted of condensed letters with thin lines. Available in both regular and oblique versions, they join a long list of stencil designs available from Jeff Levine Fonts.

Mic 32 New Stencil is the third variation of the popular Moretype family Mic 32 New. This stencil version provides an industrial flavour to the futuristic rounded geometry of Mic 32 New. Mic 32 New Stencil still has all the normal Opentype features including small caps, tabular, proportional and old style numerals and ligatures.

FF DIN: the famous, faithful and first revival of DIN 1451. FF DIN originates in the lettering models from the German standard DIN 1451, and is considered the perfect standard typeface due to the methodical and engineered nature of its design. The FF DIN family breathes an atmosphere of versatility and authority, FF DIN Stencil follows the same design principles with extra flair. The bridges are arranged vertically, which usually replaces the thinnest parts of the strokes — offering depth in your headlines. Go loud and scale up, as the weights get heavier, the width of the bridges skillfully expand and contract, enabling FF DIN Stencil to provide confidence in volume, and in any chosen style. Also made available as a Variable font, creatives can design hyper specific variations to thrive in any design space, and even to animate movement from one state to the next. Get innovative with the entire FF DIN family, FF DIN Stencil’s spacing and kerning is identical to FF DIN, this enables swapping between any FF DIN font without changes in word length or line breaks. For true FF DIN fans, FF DIN Slab and FF DIN Stencil designed by Albert-Jan Pool, Antonia Cornelius and Achaz Reuss, can be seen as harmonious companions to the FF DIN family, rather than alternatives. Bestowed with its parents distinctive DNA, all the FF DIN extensions open up new possibility with their own unique qualities, but stay true to the FF DIN design philosophy of engineered precision.

Print Shop Stencil JNL was created from the few letters spotted on the packaging of a 1960s-era toy printing press set.

A set of oil board stencils from Great Britain (probably from the 1950s) was the model for Sussex Semi Stencil JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions. Because many of the characters are ‘solid’ rather than containing the breaks [known as ‘islands’] of a traditional stencil letter, this is why the type design was given the ‘semi stencil’ designation.

A set-aside work file featuring a bold sans serif typeface that may or may not have had a vintage source history was given a new treatment. Initially, the solid design was converted to a stencil format and an experiment was undertaken to see what the alphabet would look like with a dual line treatment. Surprisingly, it turned out quite well and the end result is Dual Line Stencil JNL; available in both regular and oblique versions.

Some vintage 1960s-era packaging for dive gear (masks, swim fins, etc.) manufactured by the Voit division of AMF had various merchandise boxes hand-lettered [with some variation of design] in an interesting sans stencil. These packages formed the inspiration of Dive Gear Stencil JNL. Thanks once again to Gene Gable, whom on many occasions has provided Jeff Levine material for type design inspiration.

Hand Cut Stencil JNL is a condensed Roman typeface modeled from an antique tin stencil hand cut for shipping merchandise. The design is available in regular and oblique versions.

The 1960 British film “Beat Girl” (released in the U.S. as “Wild for Kicks”) was a typical [for its time] story of a teenage girl looking to have some fun by hanging out with SoHo beatniks and going against parental authority. One of the posters for the film features the title in a condensed slab serif stencil form, with eroded edges. The basic letter forms were smoothed out and cleaned up resulting in Jazz Beat Stencil JNL, which is available as in both regular and oblique versions.

The hand punched lettering of an antique French shipping stencil was the inspiration for French Shipping Stencil JNL; available in both regular and oblique versions.

Deco Geometric Stencil JNL was inspired by an example of a vintage Art Deco stencil type design seen in the Steven Heller-Louise Fili book "Stencil Type" (published by Thames and Hudson).

Spotted for sale online, a partial set of antique tin stencils from France had a distinctively handmade look about them. Many of the characters were inconsistently wider than others, some characters were missing and one was damaged. Despite the obvious flaws, the image of these stencils served as the model for a digital font revival once the characters took on a more uniform appearance. French Stencil Serif JNL is available in both regular and oblique versions.

At first glance Parking Lot Stencil JNL look quite similar to many sans stencil fonts, but rest assured there are numerous subtle nuances that give the typeface its own unique flavor. Modeled after the plastic stencils used for marking numbers and directional information on paved surfaces, the lettering is clean yet industrial.

Up until the advent of modern packing and shipping methods, the common way to mark merchandise or other items to be transported was through the use of a brass stencil. These marking devices were hand stamped (or punched) using metal dies that were struck against sheets of brass to create the letters, numbers and other symbols [unlike the steel rule die cutting method used for manufacturing paper stencils]. One such example of an antique marking stencil had letters and numbers approximately one quarter of an inch in height, and Stamped Brass Stencil JNL recreates the design complete with the unusual variations of character shapes and widths.

French Stencil Sans JNL is another typeface based on vintage French tin/zinc stencils. Slightly rounded corners and a "hand-cut" look add an interesting and charming variation that breaks away from the "standard" design of other metal stencil sets.

An antique Bradley stencil cutting machine’s letters and numbers were the basis for Dry Goods Stencil JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions.

More Antique Stencils JNL is another collection of wonderful decorative stencil designs from antique sources. Included in this font are floral, bird and nautical motifs in both singular and border designs as well as an ornate embellishment. This font is a companion to Antique Stencils JNL.

Vintage Stencil Art JNL collects another twenty-six charming designs, all re-drawn from antique and vintage stencil sources. These images make for the perfect embellishment to typographic projects which utilize stencil type, or the designs can be applied as decorative thematic backgrounds (such as a flower show, nature walks and so forth). For reproduction as saleable commercial products such as stencils, decals, stickers, transfers, etc. please refer to the terms and conditions which are clearly stated in the font's End User License Agreement regarding specialized licensing.

The cover on the sheet music for the 1922 song "If She Comes from Dixie" had the title hand-lettered in an Art Nouveau style with a semi-stencil effect. It's now available as Nouveau Semi Stencil JNL in both regular and oblique versions. The typeface is not considered a "pure" stencil because many of the letters were made solid; lacking the classic stencil "breaks" at key points found in more traditional stencil designs.

De Vinne Stencil JNL is a stencil treatment of Theodore L. De Vinne's classic serif font.

Soldier Slab Stencil Dstrssd. is a grungy military stencil font. The bold slab characters provide a great base to present the distressed effect. The font has been developed from a war related computer game project. The font contains 26 letters of the English alphabet in capitals and alternative capitals are represented when typing in lowercase letters. Each font also contains numbers, punctuation and a range of Latin characters as displayed.

In the 1949 Paramount comedy "My Friend Irma" (a film based on the popular radio series that introduced America to Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis), an opening gag set-up involving excavation work utilizes street barricades which inspired Work Crew Stencil JNL. Placed along the site, different advisories are stenciled upon barricades warning of the work in progress. The scatterbrained Irma (Marie Wilson) walks straight through the construction, oblivious as to what's going on around her and steps right into the open hole dug into the sidewalk (a scene she reprises in 1950's "My Friend Irma Goes West").

An ad appearing in the January 5, 1952 edition of Billboard Magazine promoted the then-new releases from Capitol Records. The headline copy was set in a bold, condensed sans serif stencil typeface. This inspired Music Ad Stencil JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions.

A new take on the classic font Bodoni, revealing the structural elements of the font, and adding a little sparkle with a pseudo-stencil treatment. The font is named in honor of its original designer and also the undisputed king of the two-chord song. Both versions of the font include the 1252 Latin and 1250 CE character sets (with localization for Romanian and Moldovan).

The typography on a 1964 children’s activity book published by Whitman entitled “Build with Stencils” was in a bold, condensed design. The only problem was that the ‘rails’ [the parts that divide a letter into stencil pieces] were too narrow and would disappear at smaller point sizes. Widening the ‘rails’ just a bit greatly improved the appearance of the stencil characters. Play Day Stencil JNL is now available in both regular and oblique versions. In its day, the Whitman Publishing Company of Racine, Wisconsin published dozens of activity books for children, including a number of them with stencils. The company was a division of Western Publishers from the early 1900s through the 1970s, but went through a number of sales and name changes. Currently [as Whitman once again] it is owned by Anderson Press, and is known for its line of coin folders and books on coin collecting.

The opening title from the 1943 Abbott and Costello comedy ”It Ain't Hay” shows a park bench with the words “Universal Presents” stenciled on it in a chamfered sans serif style. This served as the design model for Grounds Crew Stencil JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Danish type designer Ole Søndergaard created this display FontFont in 2011. The family contains 3 weights: Book, Bold, and Black and is ideally suited for advertising and packaging, film and tv as well as music and nightlife. FF Signa Serif Stencil provides advanced typographical support with features such as ligatures, alternate characters, case-sensitive forms, fractions, super- and subscript characters, and stylistic alternates. It comes with a complete range of figure set options – oldstyle and lining figures, each in tabular and proportional widths. This FontFont is a member of the FF Signa super family, which also includes FF Signa, FF Signa Correspondence, FF Signa Serif, and FF Signa Stencil.

Searching the internet for interesting type ideas leads one to many unusual items for sale online. An antique, hand-cut metal stencil from France with the word “Bagagens” [luggage] provided a condensed Art Deco design in a semi-stencil format (some solid letters, others with traditional ‘breaks’ within the characters). The digital version of the type style has a more traditional stencil character set. Garment Bag Stencil JNL is available in both regular and oblique versions.

An image of a vintage British lettering stencil set [probably circa 1960s] spotted in an online auction inspired North End Stencil JNL. The original lettering was a hybrid of both stencil and solid letter forms, but for the digital version all of the characters were given the stencil treatment. North End Stencil JNL is named after a district in London, and the type face is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Vintage Stencil Borders JNL collects twenty-six decorative vintage and antique stencil border motifs for embellishing word copy set in stencil type or for any other decorative purpose. Please note: Commercial reproduction of these designs as stencils, stickers, decals, transfers, ink stamps or other decorative stand-alone products for resale requires a separate license. Contact Jeff Levine through the email address located in the PDF file provided with the font or from the online EULA text.

Based on some 1930s-era ‘block chamfer’ gummed paper lettering, Chamfer Stencil Sans JNL is a stenciled treatment of the original design; available in both regular and oblique versions.

A vintage metal stencil from a saw mill with the term "reusable skid" was the model for Saw Mill Stencil JNL. Although the original was what would be termed a semi-stencil (some letters did not have 'breaks' in them), the font was designed with a more traditional look.

Back Lot Stencil JNL is a hand lettered slab serif stencil design based on the titles and credits from the 1954 film “Human Desire” and is available in both regular and oblique versions. Caps only Font.

The Vtg Stencil fonts from astype are based on real world stencils from several countries. All styles offering an extended Latin character set. » pdf specimen «

A 1902 publication entitled "Lettering for Schools & Colleges" had an example of an ornate, hand drawn stencil alphabet in the Art Nouveau style. This is now available digitally as Nouveau Stencil Ornate JNL, in both regular and oblique versions.

Titles hand lettered for articles appearing in the November, 1938 issue of Hollywood Magazine were done in a condensed Art Deco stencil style in just lower case. This novelty type design is now available as Deco Display Stencil JNL in both regular and oblique versions.

For decades, the National Show Card Writer Company of Minneapolis, MN produced sign making kits used by shopkeepers, schools, churches and many other types of organizations. The standard sets were comprised of two part stencils that when overlaid, produced finished lettering, or a buyer could choose the same type style designs with a standard stencil letter. From one of these templates comes Show Card Stencil JNL, in both regular and oblique versions. Take note that the U, V and W have the heavier vertical strokes reversed. As this was the way the original stencil design was manufactured, it has been retained for this digital type as well.