We have been super busy here at Teach Starter trying to update and simplify our widgets!
Our handwriting widget has evolved! Initially, you had a small selection of different lines you could choose from, plus you were only able to download the handwriting worksheets in landscape view.
After feedback from our members, we decided to provide the option of choosing portrait or landscape. Handwriting lines have also been updated to ensure they are a lot more customizable, suiting the needs of most teachers.
In our updated version, you can even pick the color of the text! For example, if you want your students to be able to trace over letters, you can now change the color of the font to a light grey!
This blog will provide you with a step-by-step guide for how to create your own handwriting worksheets using our widget.
Step-by-Step Guidelines
First, you need to head to our widgets section on our page. You can find them by going to our home feed and clicking on the resources tab along the top. You will find the widgets tab there.
Scroll down and find the Create Your Own Handwriting Sheets widget.
Once you have selected the handwriting widget, you will see the screen below. The first section is where you type in the content you want on your handwriting sheet.
Tip: If you want a line left blank – simply enter down!
Next, choose your style of font, font color, and the type of lines you would like on your handwriting worksheet.
For the lines, your options are solid, dashed, and dotted, and you have a variety of colors to choose from.
When choosing the lines, it is important to note that the third line is where the majority of the letters will sit. Therefore, if you want this line to be dashed or solid, you must select this for the third line option!
The image below may help:
Fonts and Lines
There are many different fonts and lines to choose from, so it might be a bit confusing at first! To make it a bit simpler, I have provided some examples below. You can find the details on the font and line choices below each image.
ACT Lines and Font
- School font – ACT Print or ACT Pre-cursive
- First and fourth lines – Solid (blue)
- Second line – Dashed (blue)
- Third line – Dashed (blue)
NSW Lines and Font
- School font – NSW Print or NSW Pre-cursive
- First and fourth lines – Solid (blue)
- Second line – Dashed (blue)
- Third line – Dashed (blue)
WA Lines and Fonts
- School font – WA Print or WA Pre-cursive
- First and fourth lines – Dashed (blue)
- Second line – Dashed (blue)
- Third line – Solid (blue)
QLD Lines and Fonts
- School font – QLD Print or QLD Pre-cursive
- First and fourth lines – Solid (red)
- Second line – Solid (blue)
- Third line – Solid (blue)
VIC Lines and Fonts
- School font – VIC Print or VIC Pre-cursive
- First and fourth Lines – Dashed (blue)
- Second line – Dashed (blue)
- Third line – Solid (blue)
Please note: Some teachers have requested that the top line is solid. To cater for all fonts and lines this is not possible in our handwriting widget. However, you can simply press enter in the text field. This will give you the below look for your handwriting sheet. A solid line for the first and fourth lines, dotted lines for the second and third lines with letters sitting on the fourth solid line.
TAS Lines and Fonts
- School font – TAS Print or TAS Pre-cursive
- First and fourth Lines – Solid (blue)
- Second line – Dashed (blue)
- Third line – Dashed (blue)
SA Lines and Fonts
- School font – SA Print or SA Pre-cursive
- First and fourth Lines – Solid (blue)
- Second line – Dashed (blue)
- Third line – Dashed (blue)
- School font – NT Print or NT Pre-cursive
- First and fourth Lines – Dashed (blue)
- Second line – Dashed (blue)
- Third line – Solid (blue)
Cursive Fonts
Now I’m sure you are all wondering – why isn’t there cursive fonts in the handwriting worksheet generator? This is one request we receive almost weekly!
Unfortunately, we don’t have the technology to add Cursive fonts to Studio or Widgets, including the Handwriting Sheet Creator.
Cursive fonts contain certain contextual ligatures which link letters together. These require the font carry additional information (rules and logic) to determine when and where to add these cursive joins between letters. Programs like Microsoft Word are able to interpret this additional information into the correct joins, to form flowing cursive writing.
The fonts which Studio and Widgets use can’t handle this additional information, resulting in cursive fonts which do not have the correct joins. For this reason, we have not included cursive fonts.
As soon as the technology becomes available, we will certainly implement some cursive fonts.
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