increase

增

ㄗㄥ zēng

Two versions of the same picture, and both are free with no account and no watermark. The first has no background at all, which is the one to send your artist — but a phone or computer photo viewer set to dark will show black strokes on dark grey and it can look like nothing downloaded. If that happens, use the second one: identical characters on a plain white background. Either way you get the characters on their own — the square and the faint guide lines you see above are not in the file. Each character is 1000px, so a two-character download is 2000×1000, and the script and layout are the ones you picked.

Script

Characters

Layout

To become more. The Chinese words here are neutral and slightly technical - they measure rather than wish.

Before you commit

Choose with care增 is a measuring word. It reads like a report - figures rose, value increased. There is no warmth or wish anywhere in it.

Pairs well with增值 for value appreciating, 增益 for gain and enhancement. Both are more specific and read better than 增 standing alone.

At small sizesFifteen strokes, earth radical on the left and a stacked right half. The stacking is where it fills in.

Meaning

To increase, add to, augment.

The standard verb - 增加 to increase, 增值 to appreciate in value.

Other characters for “increase”

What to do next

Pick the script and layout you want above, download the PNG, and send that file to your artist. Ask them to work from the file rather than redrawing the character freehand — that is where strokes go missing.

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