How do you do an X in bubble letters?
Draw two diagonal lines crossing a little above the center, then trace around the whole shape. Round all four ends and cut four notches between the arms: narrow ones at the top and bottom, slightly wider ones at the sides. Keep the crossing compact, then ink and erase.
- Draw the cross. Pencil two diagonals that cross a little above the middle of your letter space.
- Round the ends. Cap each of the four tips with a half-circle.
- Trace the outline. Go around the outside, turning into each notch and back out again.
- Cut the notches. Make four V-shaped gaps between the arms. Keep the top and bottom ones narrower than the side ones.
- Check the center. The crossing should be a small solid area, not a big round lump.
What makes an X easy or tricky in bubble letters
The X has no holes, but its center is where four strokes meet. Inflated too far, that center swells into a ball and the arms shrink to stubs. Keep the arms long and the notches deep. Crossing the bars a little above the middle makes the lower half slightly bigger, which keeps the letter from looking like it is sinking.
Lowercase x in bubble letters
Lowercase x is the same cross at short-letter height. With little room, keep the arms steep and the notches narrow. In very round bubble styles a lowercase x can look like a four-petal flower, which is fine as long as the notches still reach close to the middle.
Cute, 3D and graffiti bubble X
A cute bubble X can look like a bow tie or a kiss in an "xoxo" note. In 3D, the shadow fills the notches on one side and shows that one bar sits on top of the other. Graffiti X's often break one bar or turn its ends into arrows.
Common mistakes with a bubble X
- Crossing the bars at the exact middle, so the X looks like it is sinking.
- Letting the center grow into a large round lump.
- Making the notches shallow, so the arms look like stubs.
Printable bubble letter X to color or trace
Each letter fills a full A4 page (choose "fit to page" to print on US Letter), so it is big enough to color, trace or cut out for a banner. Download the uppercase A–Z PDF, the lowercase a–z PDF or the numbers 0–9 PDF, and print only the pages you need. More sheets are on printable bubble letters.