Thomas Jefferson signature
Long thin inclined strokes overlap around a narrow cursive name band.
What does Thomas Jefferson’s signature look like?
Long thin inclined strokes overlap around a narrow cursive name band. Large opening and central loops descend well below the smaller letters, before a long low extension at the right. Follow those major loops separately to see the compressed body forms between them; the tall diagonal construction accounts for much of the specimen’s outline.
- Slant
- ≥ +40°forward
- Baseline
- +4.5°rising
- Width / height
- 3.17 : 1overall proportions
- Opening height
- 1.23×opening versus body letters
About Thomas Jefferson and this autograph
Thomas Jefferson (1743 – 4 July 1826) was a Founding Father and president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. Thomas Jefferson held citizenship in the United States. This specimen is the Wikimedia Commons vector rendering of Thomas Jefferson’s signature.
Thomas Jefferson signature and handwriting analysis
Thomas Jefferson’s signature sample has a forward slant at the edge of the measured range, a rising baseline and 10 enclosed loops. Comparing autograph strokes, baseline angle (+4.5°), slant (+40°), opening ratio (1.23×) and enclosed loops (10) reveals how individual signature traits contrast with standard handwriting features. Use the layers to follow the writing line, letter band, slant and enclosed loops.
- Slantforward
- ≥ +40°
- Baselinerising
- +4.5°
- Width / heightoverall proportions
- 3.17 : 1
- Opening heightopening versus body letters
- 1.23×
- Enclosed loopsclosed spaces in the image
- 10
- Ink groupsmain disconnected groups
- 1
- Ink densityinside the signature bounds
- 11.3%
- Underlineno long lower flourish
- None
- Finish heightrelative to the letter body
- +0.06×
Opening, letter body and finish
The opening stays near the height of the body letters. The opening-to-body ratio is 1.23×, while the whole image is 3.17 times as wide as it is tall. The rightmost ink finishes above the writing line; look at this ending separately from the slant of the letters themselves.
Loops and the lower flourish
The sample contains 10 enclosed loops and 1 main ink group. The letterforms carry the main horizontal movement; there is no long lower underline detected beneath their band.
All 11 measured signature features
Slant
≥+40°Angle of the letter strokes from vertical. Positive angles lean right; negative angles lean left.
The signature has a forward slant (≥+40°). The blue-green guides show the lean of strokes across the name.
Baseline
+4.5°Direction of the writing line from the beginning to the end of the signature.
The writing line rises (+4.5°). The red guide follows the base of the letters, separate from lower loops and flourishes.
Opening capital
1.2×Height of the opening letter relative to the typical letters that follow. 1× means similar heights.
The opening stands 1.2 times as high as the following letters. The purple box marks its area; the dashed blue guide marks the letter-body band.
Enclosed loops
10Closed spaces surrounded by ink, counted across the whole signature.
There are 10 enclosed loops in the sample. Orange outlines locate them. Compare their size and placement within the name.
Ink groups
1Separate connected areas of ink in the image. Dots or detached letters can form additional groups.
The signature contains 1 main ink group. Most of the visible ink joins into one connected shape. Look at where those shapes join or separate.
Ink density
11%Share of the signature’s enclosing rectangle occupied by ink.
Ink covers 11% of the measured signature area; the rest is open space. Compare the open areas with the thickness of the visible strokes.
Underline / flourish
NoneLength of a lower underline or flourish compared with the full signature width.
No long lower underline is detected. The name is carried by the letterforms and their own lower strokes.
Finish height
+0.1×Height of the rightmost ending above or below the baseline, in typical letter heights. Positive is above; negative is below.
The ending sits close to the writing line (+0.1 letter heights). The orange guide locates the finish relative to the red baseline.
Width / height
3.2 : 1Full ink width divided by full ink height, including the signature’s tall and low strokes.
The shape is 3.2 times as wide as it is high. Its ink spans 988 × 311 image pixels. Compare the horizontal spread with the vertical reach of the capitals and loops.
Ornamentation
7.3×Total traced stroke length divided by signature width. More turns and retraced shapes add length.
The traced strokes total 7,211 pixels, about 7.3 times the signature’s width. Look for loops, turns and flourishes that add movement within that width.
Angularity
1.8Number of corners per 100 pixels of traced ink outline. Higher values indicate more frequent sharp turns.
The outline contains about 1.8 corners per 100 pixels. Inspect the turns in the pen-path layer and compare pointed changes of direction with rounded curves.
Signatures with similar shapes
Compare these samples’ slant, proportions and letter rhythm with Thomas Jefferson’s autograph.
