Four pieces, and one of them is dust

One round tablet, drawn very large and straight on. A single moulded cross runs through it, and the cut follows both scores, leaving four pieces spaced slightly apart so the gaps between them show. The four pieces come out close to equal — the score line did roughly what it was moulded to do. One has crumbled at its corner, and a small scatter of powder sits on the surface beside it.

Three whole pieces, one broken one, and a fourth of the tablet that isn't fully in either state.

What is the cross actually for?

It's a moulded line meant to guide a split into four roughly equal pieces.

It isn't a guarantee. A score line assumes a dry tablet and a steady cut, and most of the time that's close enough to what happens — three of the four pieces here hold their shape cleanly, edges sharp along the score. The cross is doing exactly what it was designed to do for most of the tablet.

Why does the powder matter more than the split itself?

Because it's the part that isn't accounted for in any of the four pieces.

The three intact quarters are at least whole and countable. The powder is neither whole nor counted — it's simply gone from wherever it used to be part of the tablet, sitting loose on the surface instead. That's the detail that makes the whole exercise approximate even when the cut itself looks clean: a quarter that crumbles at the edge stops being a quarter the moment it does.

What makes a good drawing of this?

Spacing the four pieces far enough apart that the gaps between them read clearly, and drawing all four close to the same size rather than exaggerating a difference the object doesn't show.

The powder needs its own small, distinct mark — not folded into the outline of the crumbled piece, which would hide the one detail the drawing exists to carry. A few scattered flecks read better at print size than a solid patch would.

The same logic — adding a mark of your own on top of something the manufacturer already printed — carries over to a thick line drawn in marker across a syringe's own tiny printed scale.

Do I need permission to draw a tablet like this?

No, if it's a plain scored shape with no manufacturer's embossed name, colour or printed marking.

A generic round tablet crossed by a plain score line isn't anyone's product — it's closer to a diagram of how scored tablets generally work than to a specific company's design. A real tablet carrying its own embossed marking would be a different case: that marking belongs to whoever manufactures it, the same as any printed detail on packaging does.

Does this only work for a round, cross-scored tablet?

No — any tablet, capsule or measured piece that promises an even division and doesn't quite deliver carries the same idea.

An oval tablet with a single score, or anything else meant to be divided by hand, would show the same three plain facts: an intended line, pieces that mostly follow it, and some small remainder that doesn't fit cleanly into any of them. The round shape with a moulded cross simply reads most clearly at the size a print allows — the same household that keeps this drawing around is often the one that also hides the whole tablet in something instead or keeps a foil pack that logs which days were opened, different objects answering the same ordinary problem.

Is this a guide to how a tablet should be split?

No — it's a drawing of what four pieces off one scored tablet often look like, not a method for producing them.

Whether, when or how a tablet gets divided is a question for the vet who prescribed it, not something this print takes a position on. The drawing records an outcome on a kitchen surface. It doesn't argue for one.

Does it print well?

Yes — the geometry is hard-edged and simple: a circle, a cross, four gaps.

The score lines and the spacing between pieces reproduce cleanly at any size, since none of it depends on soft shading. The powder is the one place a lighter, stippled texture earns its keep, kept small so it stays legible rather than smearing into a grey patch. One main ink against pale mint, oat or bone is enough; the powder can sit a shade lighter than the tablet itself.

How do I get one made?

Describe the split at JustOG — how many pieces, how far apart they sit, and where the powder should scatter. Pick a direction, drag the crop frame, see it composited on the real garment, and it's made to order and shipped.

Designs other people have published are in the shop.

Four pieces on the counter, close enough to equal, and a fifth thing that was never going to be one.