Bubble numbers

How do you draw numbers in bubble letters?

Write the number as a thin pencil line, draw a rounded outline about a finger-width around it, and erase the line inside. Every corner becomes a curve, and holes shrink to small ovals. Each digit has one spot that decides whether it still reads as a number once it is puffed up:

• 0: Draw a tall egg, not a circle. The hole is a narrow slot in the middle; if it gets wide, the 0 looks like a ring donut and loses its weight.
• 1: Think of a fat capsule with a small rounded nose bumping out at the top left. Add a round pad as a foot and make the body about two-thirds as wide as your 0, or it looks skinny beside the others.
• 2: A round hook on top, a thick neck sloping down to the left, then a long sausage for the base. Where the neck meets the base, the inside corner should be a soft crease, not a point.
• 3: Two puffy bumps on the right and two dents on the left. Push the middle dent deep toward the center so the bumps stay separate.
• 4: With a closed top, the hole becomes a small rounded triangle. With an open top, draw it as two capsules, an upright and a crossbar, joined into one shape.
• 5: Start with a short rounded cap for the flag, then hang a big round belly under it. Keep a clear notch between the flag and the belly so it does not melt into an S.
• 6: Draw a full circle at the bottom first, then curl a tail up from its left side like a snail shell. Put the small hole low in the circle.
• 7: The bar and stem are one bent sausage. Round the outer elbow at the top right and keep the inner corner tight, then end the stem in a round toe.
• 8: Build it like a snowman: a smaller ball on a bigger one, overlapping. The two holes are just small ovals.
• 9: A balloon on a short string: round head, tail curving down and a little left. Keep the tail straighter than the one on your 6, so the two do not look like the same shape turned over.

Once the outline looks right, fill, ink the edge in black and add a shadow on one side. The full method, with pictures for each step, is in the bubble letters guide. For blocky, 3D and throw-up digits instead of round ones, see graffiti numbers.

What can you make with bubble numbers?

Bubble numbers are mostly used for party decorations and anything that shows an age, a date or a count. The big round shapes read from across a room and are easy to cut out.

• Cake toppers: print the age on cardstock, cut it out with a thin white border, and tape a wooden skewer to the back. Make two copies and glue them back to back so the topper looks finished from both sides.
• Banners: add the age after a name, such as "MIA 16". The happy birthday bubble letters page has a matching banner PDF.
• Balloon look: fill the number in silver or gold with long white highlight streaks, and it looks like a foil number balloon on a card or poster.
• Jersey numbers: download the SVG, cut it from heat-transfer vinyl, and press it onto a shirt. Bubble digits suit casual team shirts; for classic varsity numbers, use the Block style.
• House numbers and signs: cut the SVG from outdoor vinyl for a mailbox, door or bin. Pick a strong contrast, such as white digits with a dark outline.
• Classrooms: 100 for the 100th day, countdown numbers, table numbers and a class year.

How do you make two-digit numbers fit together?

Draw both digits at the same height, then let them overlap by about a tenth of their width, with the second digit tucked behind the first. Give them one shadow direction and one color scheme, and the pair reads as one number instead of two loose digits.

1. Pencil both skeletons first, with a gap of about one digit width. Inflating them closes most of that gap.
2. Watch the 1. It is the narrowest digit, so in 10, 12, 15, 16 and 18 it can look lost. Fatten its body and let its foot pad run under the next digit.
3. Keep the holes visible. In 10, 18, 40 and 100, the overlap must not cover the hole of a 0, 8 or 4. Slide the digits apart a little if it does.
4. Slot shapes together. The flat base of a 2 tucks under the next digit, as in 21. The open left side of a 3 lets a 1 sit close, as in 13.
5. Chain the zeros. In 100, overlap the two zeros like links of a chain, and keep the 1 the same height as both.

For a name and a number together, keep the digits the same height as the capital letters. The generator does this spacing for you: type Sweet 16, Class of 2027 or any age and it overlaps the letters and digits.

Printable bubble numbers 0–9

The free numbers PDF has one large bubble digit outline per page, 10 pages, with 0 on page 1 and 9 on page 10. Print them to color, trace or cut out. Tap a number to open its page in the PDF.

Download bubble numbers 0–9 (PDF)

Print with "Fit to page" turned on so A4 pages fit US Letter paper. For a two-digit age, print both pages and trim the inside edges so the digits can overlap. The letters A–Z in the same style are on printable bubble letters, and a whole number on one page can be made in the generator with Print as a coloring page, such as 100 as a coloring page.

Make any number in bubble letters

For a number that is not on this page, a date or a jersey number with a name, use the bubble letter generator. Type the digits, pick a color scheme such as Rainbow or Pastel mix, and download a transparent PNG, an SVG for cutting machines, or a coloring page. Some quick starts: 1, 5, 8, 2026 and Happy 30.