In fitting simple models such as prisms or tabular bodies to magnetic anomaly patterns, certain dimensionless groupings of measurements from the anomaly—termed “characteristic estimators”—appear to be more effective than others in achieving satisfactory solutions. Characteristic curves are a concise, graphical presentation of the behaviour of characteristic estimators with changes in the parameters of the model, and are convenient for making rapid interpretations of anomalies. In this paper, illustrations of characteristic curves are given for the prism and for the tabular body, together with illustrations of their use from field examples.