Graphite Grade Reference
Every grade the graphite grade (H/B) guide covers, in one table: hardness, darkness, the nearest step on a 9-step value scale, how each grade smudges and erases, and which paper tooth suits it best.
All 20 grades, hardest to softest
| Grade | Darkness (0–10) | Category | Nearest value step (of 9) | Smudge risk | Erasability | Paper tooth pairing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9H | 0.5 | Hard leads — precise, light construction and technical lines | 1 | Very low — a mostly-clay core deposits little loose graphite | Lifts almost completely, even after light burnishing | Smooth-to-light tooth, toward the 90gsm end — a pronounced tooth breaks up a fine hard line |
| 8H | 1 | Hard leads — precise, light construction and technical lines | 2 | Very low — a mostly-clay core deposits little loose graphite | Lifts almost completely, even after light burnishing | Smooth-to-light tooth, toward the 90gsm end — a pronounced tooth breaks up a fine hard line |
| 7H | 1.5 | Hard leads — precise, light construction and technical lines | 2 | Very low — a mostly-clay core deposits little loose graphite | Lifts almost completely, even after light burnishing | Smooth-to-light tooth, toward the 90gsm end — a pronounced tooth breaks up a fine hard line |
| 6H | 2 | Hard leads — precise, light construction and technical lines | 3 | Very low — a mostly-clay core deposits little loose graphite | Lifts almost completely, even after light burnishing | Smooth-to-light tooth, toward the 90gsm end — a pronounced tooth breaks up a fine hard line |
| 5H | 2.5 | Hard leads — precise, light construction and technical lines | 3 | Very low — a mostly-clay core deposits little loose graphite | Lifts almost completely, even after light burnishing | Smooth-to-light tooth, toward the 90gsm end — a pronounced tooth breaks up a fine hard line |
| 4H | 3 | Fine sketching & underdrawing — crisp, controlled linework | 3 | Low | Lifts cleanly with a standard eraser | Light-to-moderate tooth, 90–125gsm — enough grip for controlled linework without excess grain |
| 3H | 3.5 | Fine sketching & underdrawing — crisp, controlled linework | 4 | Low | Lifts cleanly with a standard eraser | Light-to-moderate tooth, 90–125gsm — enough grip for controlled linework without excess grain |
| 2H | 4 | Fine sketching & underdrawing — crisp, controlled linework | 4 | Low | Lifts cleanly with a standard eraser | Light-to-moderate tooth, 90–125gsm — enough grip for controlled linework without excess grain |
| H | 4.5 | Fine sketching & underdrawing — crisp, controlled linework | 5 | Low | Lifts cleanly with a standard eraser | Light-to-moderate tooth, 90–125gsm — enough grip for controlled linework without excess grain |
| F | 4.75 | Fine sketching & underdrawing — crisp, controlled linework | 5 | Low | Lifts cleanly with a standard eraser | Light-to-moderate tooth, 90–125gsm — enough grip for controlled linework without excess grain |
| HB | 5 | General purpose — everyday sketching and light shading | 5 | Moderate | Lifts well but can leave a faint ghost on heavier paper | Moderate tooth across the full 90–160gsm band — the general-purpose sweet spot |
| B | 5.5 | General purpose — everyday sketching and light shading | 5 | Moderate | Lifts well but can leave a faint ghost on heavier paper | Moderate tooth across the full 90–160gsm band — the general-purpose sweet spot |
| 2B | 6 | General purpose — everyday sketching and light shading | 6 | Moderate | Lifts well but can leave a faint ghost on heavier paper | Moderate tooth across the full 90–160gsm band — the general-purpose sweet spot |
| 3B | 6.5 | Shading & dramatic contrast — rich darks and expressive blending | 6 | High — smears under a resting hand or stray fabric | Partial lift only; a kneaded eraser dents more than it removes | Pronounced tooth, toward the 160gsm end — grips enough loose graphite for rich, even darks |
| 4B | 7 | Shading & dramatic contrast — rich darks and expressive blending | 7 | High — smears under a resting hand or stray fabric | Partial lift only; a kneaded eraser dents more than it removes | Pronounced tooth, toward the 160gsm end — grips enough loose graphite for rich, even darks |
| 5B | 7.5 | Shading & dramatic contrast — rich darks and expressive blending | 7 | High — smears under a resting hand or stray fabric | Partial lift only; a kneaded eraser dents more than it removes | Pronounced tooth, toward the 160gsm end — grips enough loose graphite for rich, even darks |
| 6B | 8 | Shading & dramatic contrast — rich darks and expressive blending | 7 | Very high — smears from incidental contact | Barely lifts; treat marks as close to permanent | Pronounced tooth, toward the 160gsm end — grips enough loose graphite for rich, even darks |
| 7B | 8.5 | Shading & dramatic contrast — rich darks and expressive blending | 8 | Very high — smears from incidental contact | Barely lifts; treat marks as close to permanent | Pronounced tooth, toward the 160gsm end — grips enough loose graphite for rich, even darks |
| 8B | 9 | Shading & dramatic contrast — rich darks and expressive blending | 8 | Very high — smears from incidental contact | Barely lifts; treat marks as close to permanent | Pronounced tooth, toward the 160gsm end — grips enough loose graphite for rich, even darks |
| 9B | 9.5 | Shading & dramatic contrast — rich darks and expressive blending | 9 | Very high — smears from incidental contact | Barely lifts; treat marks as close to permanent | Pronounced tooth, toward the 160gsm end — grips enough loose graphite for rich, even darks |
Darkness, category, and grade order come from the same gradeInfo()function behind the graphite grade guide above. The value-scale step, smudge risk, erasability, and tooth pairing are derived from that same darkness value plus the value scale generator and paper weight calculator’s own functions — not a separately maintained table.
Reading the table
The first three columns — grade, darkness, and category — are the exact same values the graphite grade guide computes for a single grade you look up interactively. This page runs that same lookup across all twenty standard grades at once, so they can be compared side by side rather than one at a time.
Smudge risk and erasability track the same underlying property that sets darkness: how much graphite (versus clay) makes up the core. A hard grade like 9H is mostly clay, deposits very little loose material, and lifts almost completely with an eraser. A soft grade like 9B is almost pure graphite, smears from incidental contact, and only partially lifts even with repeated erasing — the same physical property driving both darkness and how forgiving a mistake is to correct.
The nearest value-scale step shows where each grade lands on a 9-step grayscale strip. Because twenty grades are being mapped onto only nine steps, several neighbouring grades sometimes share a step — F and H, for instance, sit close enough together that both round to the same nearest step. That’s a genuine resolution limit worth knowing about, not an error in the mapping; building and using a value scale covers this same limitation from the value-scale side in more depth.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do the smudge risk and erasability columns come from?
They're computed from each grade's position on the hardness scale — the same gradeValue the graphite grade guide uses for hardness and darkness — bucketed into five bands from hardest to softest, the same style of bucketing the guide's own "category" column already uses. They aren't a separately measured or invented dataset.
What does the "nearest value-scale step" column mean?
It's the closest step on a 9-step value scale (generated by the same function behind the value scale generator) to that grade's darkness index. Because a 9-step scale has coarser resolution than the 20-grade pencil scale, several neighbouring grades sometimes land on the same nearest step — that's a genuine limit of a 9-step scale, not a rounding error.
Why does the paper-tooth pairing only mention graphite's gsm range?
The pairing is about texture, not weight, but weight and tooth correlate closely enough in real paper products that the graphite weight band (from the paper weight calculator's recommendGsmRange) is a useful anchor for describing where in that band a given grade's ideal tooth sits — smoother toward the light end, toothier toward the heavy end.
Is this the same data as the graphite grade guide?
The hardness, darkness, and category columns are identical, because both pages call the same gradeInfo() function. This page adds three columns the interactive guide doesn't show — value-scale step, smudge/erasability, and tooth pairing — as a fuller reference rather than a lookup tool.
Grading is not standardised between manufacturers — treat every column here as a relative, teaching-oriented guide, not an exact measurement for any specific brand’s pencil.
Use it with
- Graphite Grade (H/B) Guide— look up or reverse-look-up a single grade interactively.
- Value Scale Generator— generate a value scale at any step count, not just the 9-step reference used here.
- Paper Weight & GSM Calculator— check a specific sheet’s weight against the gsm band each tooth pairing is anchored to.
- Choosing a graphite grade for what you’re actually drawing — the guide version of this table, worked through real subjects.