PrintReadyKit

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Name tracing worksheet generator

Printable name tracing and handwriting practice sheets: paste a class list and get a page for every child, or type words and sentences to practise. Grey, dotted or outline letters that fade row by row, on school guide lines placed so the letters touch them, at a real letter height — 1 in, ¾ in, 20 mm or any size — on A4 or US Letter.

Stays on this device: never put in a link or sent anywhere. Leave it empty for blank practice lines.

Letter height (baseline to top line)
Letters to trace

… page for 3 names, 8 rows a page, letters 19.1 mm (0.75 in) high. Print at Actual size or 100%.

NameDateLetters 19.1 mm (0.75 in) from baseline to top line - print at Actual size / 100% - printreadykit.com

Loading the letters…

How to use it

  1. Paste the names, one per line — or choose Words or sentences and type what to practise.
  2. Pick the letter height for the child’s age, and grey, dotted or outline letters.
  3. Keep the dark example and the fade for beginners; add empty rows to write without help.
  4. Download the PDF and print at 100%. Each child traces over the letters with a pencil, then writes alone on the empty rows.

How the guide lines are set

Each row has four lines: the top line where tall letters such as b, d and l end, a dashed line where small letters such as a, c and e end, the red baseline the letters sit on, and a dotted line below for the tails of g, p and y. The lines are measured from the letters themselves, so every letter touches them exactly: the height you choose is the distance from the baseline to the top line, the small letters are 64% of it, and the tails go 31% of it below the baseline. Capitals stop just under the top line, as in print handwriting. Blank lines of the same kind, to print on their own, are in the handwriting paper generator.

Keeps these settings in the link. Useful for moving from a phone to the computer with the printer on it.

Frequently asked questions

How do I make a name tracing worksheet for my whole class?

Paste the class list, one name per line (straight from a spreadsheet column works), keep “A page for each name” and download the PDF: one page per child, each with the name to trace across every row and empty rows at the bottom to write it alone. Up to 60 names in one file. The names stay on your device — they are never put in a link or sent anywhere.

What size should the letters be?

Choose the height from the baseline to the top line. School practice paper in the US uses about 1 in for pre-K, ¾ in for kindergarten, ⅝ in for first grade and ½ in for second grade; 20 mm, 15 mm and 10 mm are the metric equivalents. Younger children need bigger letters. Any height from 6 to 60 mm can be typed under Custom.

Why is the dashed line not exactly halfway?

Because it is placed where the small letters (a, c, e, m, o …) actually end in the font, so they touch it exactly. In Andika the small letters are 64% as tall as the tall ones (b, d, h, k, l), so the dashed line sits a little above the middle. A line drawn at exactly half would cut through every small letter, which is more confusing for a child than a line that is slightly high.

Grey, dotted or outline letters — which is best?

Grey letters are solid and pale, so a pencil line shows clearly over them; they suit the youngest children. Dotted letters are drawn as a row of dots round the edge of each letter. Outline letters are hollow, for tracing inside or colouring in. With Fade on, each row is paler than the one above, so the help disappears row by row before the empty rows at the end.

What font are the letters in?

Andika, by SIL International, a typeface designed for children and new readers: the a and g are written the way children learn to write them (one storey), and I, l and 1 are easy to tell apart. It is free under the SIL Open Font License; the font file is served from this site with its licence.

Can I make a sentence or spelling words practice sheet?

Yes: choose “Words or sentences” and type one per line. Each line gets the number of tracing rows you choose, then the empty rows, and lines that are too long for one row are split at a space. Spelling lists, sight words, a short sentence a day or the alphabet all work.

Which letters can it print?

Every Latin letter with accents — é, ñ, ü, ø, ł, ș and the rest — and the usual punctuation and numbers. Greek, Cyrillic and other scripts are not in this font; the page names any character it leaves out before you download.

Will the letters be the size I chose when I print?

Yes, when the PDF is printed at Actual size or 100%. “Fit to page” shrinks the sheet by a few percent. The foot of every page states the letter height, so you can check it with a ruler: measure from the red baseline up to the top line.

Name tracing worksheet PDF: the name Sophia in a dark example and grey letters that fade row by row on blue guide lines with a red baseline
A name tracing page with ¾ in letters: a dark example, rows that fade, and empty rows to write alone.

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