Hand Lettering Practice Sheets

Print hand lettering practice sheets for brush pens and faux calligraphy. Start with the 8 basic strokes (upstroke, downstroke, underturn, overturn, compound curve, oval, ascending and descending loops), drill thin upstrokes and thick downstrokes, then trace a lowercase alphabet that we drew mostly from those same strokes. Type a word or short phrase and it is built from the same letters for you to trace. Every row has guide lines (ascender, waist, baseline, descender) and slant lines at the angle you pick, from upright to 35°. Choose the letter size, a small or large brush pen or a fine liner, and trace grey shapes, outlines to fill in (faux calligraphy) or a dotted centre line. Download a PDF, 300 DPI PNG or SVG. Nothing is uploaded.

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How to make a hand lettering practice sheet

1. Choose a sheet: all basic strokes, one stroke, the thin up / thick down drill, the alphabet, your word or a blank guide sheet.
2. Pick the x-height (letter size) and the slant.
3. Pick your pen and how the letters look: grey to trace, outline to fill in, or a dotted centre line.
4. Keep the green start dots and arrows on to see where each stroke starts and which way it goes.
5. Download the PDF and print at 100% (Actual size).

What you can use it for

• Brush pen warm-ups before a lettering session
• Learning thin and thick strokes with a new pen
• Faux calligraphy with a pencil or fine liner
• Practising names and words for cards, place cards and signs
• Blank guide sheets under layout paper
• Lettering clubs and workshops

The 8 basic strokes

Stroke	Used in
Upstroke (thin)	v, w, x (the rising strokes)
Downstroke (thick)	m, n, p, q, r (stems)
Underturn	u, y; a short one ends a, d, i, l, t, u
Overturn	h, m, n (the arch)
Compound curve	The drill only: an overturn and an underturn in one stroke
Oval	a, d, g, q, o
Ascending loop	b, f, h, k, l
Descending loop	g, j, y

Each stroke is drawn as a centre line, then made thin where the pen moves up and thick where it moves down, the way a brush pen behaves when you press on the way down.

The 13 sheets

Sheet
Basic strokes (all 8)
Thin up, thick down drill
Upstrokes
Downstrokes
Underturns
Overturns
Compound curves
Ovals
Ascending loops
Descending loops
Lowercase alphabet a to z
Your word or phrase
Blank guide sheet (lines + slant)

Each row starts with a black example, then copies to trace, as many as fit. On the word sheet the first row starts with the black example and the rows below are all for tracing. Single-stroke and word sheets end with two empty guide rows to try on your own.

Slant angles

Slant you pick	Lean measured on the sheet	Good for
0°	0.00°	Upright, bounce and print styles
5°	5.00°	Relaxed brush script
10°	10.00°	Relaxed brush script
15°	15.00°	Classic brush script
20°	20.00°	Classic brush script
25°	25.00°	Strong lean, close to pointed-pen scripts
30°	30.00°	Strong lean, close to pointed-pen scripts
35°	35.00°	Strong lean, close to pointed-pen scripts

The lean is measured from upright (90° from the baseline). A slant of 35° is the same as 55° from the baseline.

Sizes

x-height	Rows per page (Letter)	Rows per page (A4)	Pens
6 mm	10	11	Small brush pens, fine liners
8 mm	8	8	Small and medium brush pens
10 mm	6	7	Small and medium brush pens
12 mm	5	5	Large brush pens, markers
15 mm	4	4	Large brush pens, markers

For ruled sheets in nib widths, use the Calligraphy Practice Sheets; for plain practice paper, Dot Grid Paper or Lined Paper.

What prints

Download	What is in it
PDF	Every page, vector shapes and lines, at real size
PNG 300 DPI	One picture per page (a ZIP when there are several)
SVG	The page on screen at real size

Frequently asked questions

What is hand lettering?

Drawing letters by hand, often with a brush pen, so that each letter is a small piece of art. Brush lettering uses thin strokes on the way up and thick strokes on the way down, which the pen makes when you press harder.

What are the basic strokes?

The 8 shapes most lowercase letters are built from: the upstroke, downstroke, underturn, overturn, compound curve, oval, ascending loop and descending loop. Practising them first makes the letters easier. Most of our alphabet is drawn from these same strokes, with a few own shapes for letters such as e, s and z.

What is faux calligraphy?

A way to get the brush look with any pen: write the letter in one thin line, then draw a second line beside every downstroke and fill the gap. Choose Outline to fill in to print the shapes for this.

How does the slant work?

The slant is the lean of the letters from upright. The slant lines on the sheet and every upright stroke of the letters lean by exactly the angle you pick; our tests measure both.

Which size should I pick?

The x-height is the height of a small letter such as a or n. Pick a size that suits your pen: 6 to 8 mm for small brush pens and fine liners, 10 to 15 mm for large brush pens.

Are there capital letters?

Not yet. The alphabet has the 26 lowercase letters a to z. If you type capitals in your word, they are drawn as lowercase, and the tool tells you.

How is this different from calligraphy guide sheets?

Calligraphy guide sheets are ruled lines for broad-nib or pointed-pen hands, measured in nib widths, with no letters on them. These sheets are for brush pens and faux calligraphy, with strokes and letters to trace on the lines.

Can I use the sheets in a class or sell them?

Yes. The strokes and letters are our own drawings, and you may use the sheets and anything you make with them, including in things you sell, without giving credit. The note under the tool gives the full terms.

Is anything uploaded?

No. The sheets are drawn by JavaScript in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere or saved when you close the page.