Cursive F, uppercase and lowercase
Stroke stepsF in wordsPrintable practice sheet
On the lines below, red is the baseline, the dashed line is the midline where short letters stop, and the blue line at the top marks the height of capitals. Both letters are drawn from the outlines of one school-cursive typeface, so each size on this page is measured.
Lowercase f is the one with a step-by-step path here, because the old manuals describe it. They say little about how a capital F is begun and which way the pen goes, so the capital is shown as a picture only.
Lowercase cursive f
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1Swing up in a curve to the top of the loop. Palmer says the first difficulty with loop letters is getting enough curve on the upward stroke, and the loop should rise as high as the loops of l, b, h and k. [2][3]
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2Drop below the baseline into the lower loop. Below the line the letter is a little shorter than it is above. (This typeface draws the lower loop about half as long as the upper one, 517 against 1,019 units.) [1]
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3Come back up and close the letter on the baseline. In this typeface the crossing sits higher, a little under halfway to the dashed midline, so follow Palmer's rule when you write it yourself. [1]
What the handwriting manuals say. The steps above use only these points; the letter drawn is the modern typeface, so small details of the old models differ.
“Small f is a little shorter below than above the base line, and is closed on the base line.”
“The basis of the extended loop letters, b, f, h, and k, is small l. These five letters should extend the same distance above the base line.”
“You will find your first difficulty in getting enough curve on the upward stroke.”
F in joined words
Lowercase f is a tall letter in this typeface: its top is 1019 units, a hair above the 1000 units of a capital, and its loop below the line is 517 units deep. The word list is set in the same typeface, so the joins you see are the font's own.
- Fred
- fish
- free
- Friday
- of
- life
How tall each letter sits on the lines
| Letter | Top of the letter | Bottom | Width |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lowercase f | 204% of the midline height (1019 vs 500 units): the upper loop reaches the top line | 517 units below the baseline, in the lower loop | 807 units including the lead-in stroke |
| Uppercase F | 101% of capital height (1015 vs 1000 units): the long top stroke just clears the top line | 17 units below the baseline, a slight dip | 1153 units from the left curl to the end of the top stroke |
Units are the typeface's own grid, 1,000 to the em. Read from the font file of Playwrite US Trad; see how these are made.
Practice sheet
One page, fits US Letter and A4. Two rows for each letter: the first starts with one dark model to copy, then gray letters to trace, and the second is all tracing. Then two word rows and two empty rows for writing alone.