Cursive Alphabet

How to use the Cursive Alphabet tool

1. Choose What to print: Chart only, Chart with tracing rows, or Tracing sheet for chosen letters.
2. Choose Letters: uppercase and lowercase, uppercase only, or lowercase only.
3. If you chose the tracing sheet, type the letters you want in Letters to practice.
4. Set Line size to fit the grade of the person practicing.
5. Set Tracing rows (1 to 4) and Blank rows to write on (0 to 4).
6. Choose Tracing letters: light gray or dotted outline.
7. Choose Lines: top line, dashed midline and baseline; top line and baseline; or baseline only.
8. Set Color to grayscale or color lines (blue and red), and turn the Show descender line checkbox on or off.
9. Set Paper to US Letter or A4, and type a Title on the sheet.
10. Click Print or save as PDF. The browser’s print dialog can also save a PDF.

The preview updates as you change each setting, so check it before you print. Reset settings restores the defaults, and New worksheet makes a different sheet with the same settings. Each sheet has a short worksheet code under the buttons. The settings are stored in the page address after the #, so a bookmarked or shared link opens the same sheet. When an answer key is included, it prints on its own page after the worksheet.

How many letters are in the cursive alphabet?

The cursive alphabet has 26 letters. Each letter has a capital form and a lowercase form, so the full chart shows 52 letters, from A a through Z z. In the chart, every letter appears exactly once, in alphabetical order, as a pair such as Aa, Bb, Cc. Choosing uppercase only or lowercase only shows 26 letters instead.

What is the difference between cursive capital letters and lowercase letters?

Capital letters are the larger forms, and they reach the top line on the sheet. Lowercase letters come in three heights. Small letters such as a, c and o reach only the dashed midline. The lowercase tall letters b, d, f, h, k and l reach the top line, like capitals. Because the sheet places each letter on its own, you can compare the shapes of the capital and lowercase forms directly.

Which cursive letters go below the line?

In this font, the lowercase letters f, g, j, p, q, y and z go below the baseline. Among the capitals, J, Y and Z do. The capital Q dips only slightly below the baseline. The descender line is a lighter dashed line under the baseline. It is on by default, and it shows where the lower loops should end.

Can I print just the letters I choose?

Yes. Select “Tracing sheet for chosen letters” and type the letters you want in “Letters to practice.” Each letter gets its own group of rows. The group starts with a dark model and continues with gray copies for tracing, followed by blank rows. Repeated letters, spaces and other characters are ignored. The groups follow the order you typed. For example, the letters “qzj” with 2 tracing rows and 1 blank row give three groups of three rows, nine rows in all, in the order q, z, j.

Does the cursive alphabet chart show stroke order?

No. The sheet does not show stroke order or arrows. Stroke order and direction differ between handwriting programs, such as Zaner-Bloser and D’Nealian, and a font cannot show them correctly. To learn the strokes, trace the gray model and compare it with the chart your school uses. The sheet shows what the finished letter looks like: its height, whether it reaches the top line, and whether its tail drops below the baseline.

What is the capital Q in cursive?

In traditional cursive, the capital Q looks like a large numeral 2. It is a tall letter that reaches the top line and dips only slightly below the baseline. It is easy to confuse with other capitals, so compare it carefully with the chart your school uses.