Marburg Medium
the Braille Specification for Pharmaceutical Packaging

There are many specifications for setting Braille type. However, the PharmaBraille range of Braille fonts comply with the Marburg Medium specification, as recommended by the European Commission, the Can-Am Braille standard and the ECMA EuroBraille standard for use on pharmaceutical packaging and labels.

The Marburg Medium Braille Specification

• The dot diameter is 1.6mm.
• The dot spacing is 2.5mm from dot centre to dot centre.
• The character spacing is 6.0mm from dot centre to dot centre.
• The line spacing is 10.0mm.

Marburg Medium Braille Cell Spacing

The Marburg Medium spacing convention and dimensions for Braille on the female matrix and on the artwork film/artwork file are illustrated above.

Key

Tolerances: ±0.1mm

1. 2.5mm
2. 2.5mm
3. 6.0mm between two characters
4. 12.0mm hyphenation
5. 10.0mm line spacing

Given the properties of the substrate and the nature of the production process, it is possible that these dimensional tolerances will not be achieved in the production of the packaging component (for example line spacing for tractor-fed labels where the upper limit for line-spacing may be exceeded).

Sources:
"Braille Cell Dimensions", Tiresias - Scientific and Technological Reports
"Braille on folding Cartons", European Carton Makers Association, Sept 2005
EN 15823:2010 "Packaging. Braille on packaging for medicinal products"