How to Set Up Lettering and Carving

Set lettering style — Sunk, Raised, Skin Frost or Frosted Inlaid — plus litho color, Dropwash and carving type for each field group in Step 4, Sketch & Inscription.

Written By Dennis Rodin

Last updated 28 days ago

Set up lettering and carving in Step 4: Sketch & Inscription of the New Quote wizard. Next to each decedent field you'll find a Lettering & Carving button; click it to choose how that text and its decorative work will look on the stone.

Adding a name to a stone that is already standing? This is the wrong screen. That job is a service order, and what the engraver cuts goes in the Lettering & Inscription card on the Service tab of Step 3: Items & Configuration — not here, and not on the sketch. Only lines you tick Engrave this are cut; everything else is treated as already on the stone. This article covers a new monument.

The settings are per field group, not per decedent

Each decedent line has four separate Lettering & Carving buttons, one per field group:

  • Given Names (first and middle name)

  • Surname

  • Dates (birth and death)

  • Additional Text

So a surname can be raised while the dates are sunk, on the same person. Once you set anything, the button stops pulsing blue and shows a summary of your choices instead of the words "Lettering & Carving" — for example V-Sunk · Black + Highlight · Flat · Dropwash.

To avoid setting the same thing four times, open a field group's window and use the Copy style from... dropdown in its top-right corner. It offers the other three groups (From Given Names, From Surname, From Dates, From Additional Text) and copies that group's settings across.

Lettering Style

Lettering Style is four independent checkboxes, not an either/or. Tick as many as the job needs — a stone can carry sunk names with a frosted panel behind them.

  • Sunk Lettering: the letters are cut into the stone (recessed). The most common style, and it works on every stone color.

  • Raised Lettering: the surrounding stone is cut away so the letters stand out from the surface. More expensive and labor-intensive, typically used for high-end memorials.

  • Skin Frost: only the surface is frosted, leaving the polish below intact. Subtle, lower contrast. This is its own checkbox, not a sunk sub-style.

  • Frosted Inlaid: a frosted field with the lettering inlaid into it.

Tick Sunk Lettering and a row of sub-style chips appears. Pick one:

  • Standard (selected for you when you tick Sunk): flat-bottomed cut. The recessed area has a flat floor.

  • V-Sunk: the cut tapers down to a point in the center, giving the letter a sharper, more dramatic shadow.

  • U-Sunk: the cut has a rounded floor instead of flat or V-shaped. Softer look.

  • Outline: only the outline of each letter is cut, leaving the inside of the letter polished.

  • Other: opens a free-text box ("Describe lettering style..."). Whatever you type is what the shop ticket prints, so write it the way the engraver needs to read it.

Tick Raised Lettering and you get its own sub-style chips:

  • Tooled Background — selected for you by default when you tick Raised.

  • Sandblast Background

  • Relief

Dropwash

Below the styles there is a single Dropwash switch. Turn it on when the field needs a dropwash and it is added to the field group's summary. It applies to that field group only, like everything else in this window.

Litho Color

Litho is the paint or finish applied to the recessed letters to make them stand out against the polished stone. Litho Color is multi-select: click as many pills as you need and click a selected pill again to clear it. Two or more colors join with a plus sign on the summary, like Black + Highlight.

  • Black: the standard. Black paint filled into the cut letters. Highest contrast on lighter stones (gray, pink, mahogany).

  • Natural: no paint applied. The recessed letters show the raw, unpolished surface of the stone. Most subtle option.

  • Highlight: silver or aluminum leaf finish that catches the light. Best for darker stones (black, dark blue, dark green) where black paint would be invisible.

  • White: white paint. Strong contrast on dark stones; uncommon on light stones.

  • Other: pick this for any custom finish (gold leaf, custom paint color, multi-color, and so on). Selecting Other opens a "Describe color..." field, and that description shows up on the Shop Ticket so the engraver knows what to do.

Tip: if you're not sure what works on the stone color you picked, ask your customer to bring a sample if possible, or default to Black on lighter stones and Highlight on darker stones.

Carving Type

Carving Type is a single-select 2×2 grid, set per field group. It controls how decorative elements (roses, crosses, scenes, emblems) and etched artwork are produced on the stone. Click an option to select it; click the active option again to clear it. Four choices:

  • Flat/Sandblasted: the design is etched into the stone surface using a stencil and sandblaster. The design is flat, not three-dimensional. This is the standard for most monuments because it's faster, cheaper, and works for any artwork you can produce as a stencil.

  • Shaped Carving: the design is hand-carved in 3D relief, with depth and contour. Used for sculptural elements like raised flowers, religious icons, or portraits. Significantly more time and skill required.

  • Laser Etched: the artwork is laser-engraved into the stone. Best for fine detail and photo-style images, typically on dark polished granite.

  • Hand Etched: the artwork is etched by hand, giving a softer, more artistic line than laser. Also used on dark polished stone.

Your choice shows in that field group's summary as Flat, Shaped, Laser Etched, or Hand Etched, and it carries through to Review & Create. Picking Laser Etched or Hand Etched here is also what raises the matching Laser Etching or Hand Etching to-do on the confirmed order.

Where else lettering and etching can be recorded

Four different places in MonuDesk now capture text or etching, and entering the same work twice double-counts it. Quick map:

  • This window (Step 4, per field group): how a monument's own lettering and artwork are cut.

  • Accessories → Etching (Step 3): a standalone, separately priced etched piece, in-house or vendor-quoted. See How to Add Accessories.

  • Service tab → Lettering & Inscription (Step 3): what the engraver cuts on an existing stone. Service orders only.

  • The sketch canvas (Step 4): a drawing for the designer and the family, never a cut list.

Pick one place per piece of work.

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