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Calcimator

Exhibit Label Calculator

Calculate label dimensions, font sizes, word counts, and production costs for museum exhibit labels based on ADA guidelines.

Inputs

Results

Title font size (pt)

24

Total label budget ($)

$1,391.00

≈ 11 pairs of sneakers

Body font size (pt)18
Label width (in)6
Label height (in)5
Words per label75
Reading time (sec)18
Total material cost ($)$120.00
Design cost ($)$1,083.00
Installation cost ($)$188.00
How to Use This Calculator
  1. Enter Label type, Material, and Number of labels.
  2. Set Viewing distance (ft) and Bilingual labels?.
  3. Review Title font size (pt) and Total label budget ($) ($).
  4. Use Body font size (pt) and Label width (in) to inform your decision.

How the result changes with Viewing distance (ft)

Viewing distance (ft)Title font size (pt)Total label budget ($)
2.923$1,382.00
7.6561$2,054.00
13104$3,528.00
18144$5,591.00

What each input means

Label type
1 = Tombstone (ID only, ~25 words); 2 = Standard interpretive (~75 words); 3 = Extended (~150 words); 4 = Section intro (~200 words).
Material
1 = Paper on foam core; 2 = Sintra/PVC; 3 = Acrylic; 4 = Anodized aluminum.
Number of labels
Total labels to produce for the exhibition.
Viewing distance (ft)
Expected viewing distance. Font size scales proportionally (ADA baseline is 3 ft).
Bilingual labels?
1 = Yes (doubles word count and label height); 0 = No.

What each result means

Title font size (pt)
Recommended title font size for the viewing distance.
Body font size (pt)
Recommended body text font size.
Label width (in)
Calculated label width.
Label height (in)
Calculated label height.
Words per label
Average word count per label.
Reading time (sec)
Average time for a visitor to read one label.
Total material cost ($)
Material cost for all labels.
Design cost ($)
Graphic design time at $65/hr.
Installation cost ($)
Label installation at $45/hr.
Total label budget ($)
Combined material, design, and installation cost.

How this is calculated

Worked example, using the default values

  1. Identify Input Parameters
    4 parameters
    Label type = 2, Material = 2, Number of labels = 50, Viewing distance (ft) = 3 = 5 input(s) provided
  2. Calculate Title font size
    Title font size
    24 = 24
  3. Calculate Total label budget
    Total label budget = designCost + totalMaterialCost + installCost
    1391 = $1,391
  4. Calculate Body font size
    Body font size
    18 = 18
  5. Calculate Label width
    Label width
    6 = 6

Engine last updated .

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