Cursive I, uppercase and lowercase
Stroke stepsI in wordsPrintable practice sheet
The guide lines work like this: red is the baseline, dashed is the midline where short letters end, and the top blue line is capital height. Each letter is set from the outlines of the same school-cursive typeface, so the numbers in the size table are read from the letters, not guessed.
Capital I has stroke steps below, built from what the 1915 Palmer Method says about its width, its crossing and its finish. Small i has no steps: its dot is a separate mark that a single pen path cannot draw, so it is shown as a picture with Palmer's own words under it. Each step says what Palmer wrote and what this typeface does differently.
Uppercase cursive I
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1Start just below the baseline and go up. Palmer says always to start capital I with an upward stroke from below the base line. The start dot sits at the tip of the little nub under the line; the first stroke runs up the left side of the loop to the top. [1]
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2Turn over the top and bring the main downward stroke down the right side, crossing your first upward line. Palmer makes the upper part a little less than half the width of the lower part, and puts the crossing at the height of small o. The crossing in this typeface sits well below the dashed midline, so follow Palmer's rule when you write it yourself. [1][2][3]
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3Sweep along the base in a full left curve and up the left side to the angle. In this style Palmer wants a full stop at that angle, the same kind of stop he asks for in all angular connections. [4][5]
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4Leave the angle with the short last stroke and end it in a dot. Palmer calls this a particularly good style of capital I for beginning a word, and counts 1, 2, 3 or 1, 2, swing. [4][6]
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.
“Always start capital I with an upward stroke from below the base line. The upper part should be about one-half the width of the lower. The crossing of the beginning with the main downward stroke should be one space above the base line.”
“Question: How wide is the upper part? Answer: A little less than half the width of the lower part.”
“Question: Where do the first upward and the first downward lines cross? Answer: At the height of small o.”
“Question: How is it finished? Answer: With a full left curve and a dot at the end.”
“To form the angle at the left, there must be a full stop in this style of capital I.”
“This is a particularly good style of capital I to use in beginning a word, as shown in the following drill. Count 1, 2, 3; or 1, 2, swing.”
Lowercase cursive i: what Palmer says
The dot over small i is a separate mark, so we show the letter as a picture and give no numbered steps. What Palmer does say, in his drills for small i, is quoted word for word below: the letter is made with an under-motion, it ends in a sharp point at the top, the downward strokes are as light as the upward ones, they sit at equal distances apart, and i is one of the minimum, one-space letters.
“Small i being made entirely with an under-motion, has a sharp point at the top. Count 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, for each group; make the downward as light as the upward strokes and try to make them equal distances apart.”
“Reference has already been made to one-sixteenth of an inch as representing a space in height for the minimum (one-space) letters a, c, e, i, m, n, o, u, v, w, and x.”
These words describe Palmer's model of the letter. The typeface here is a modern school-cursive face and may differ in detail, so when you practice, follow Palmer's words rather than the drawn letter.
I in joined words
A capital I that starts a word hands over to the small letters after it. Each word below is typeset with the same font, which supplies the joins between letters.
- Ivy
- Iris
- Ida
- Ian
- in
- it
How tall each letter sits on the lines
| Letter | Top of the letter | Bottom | Width |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lowercase i | 159% of the midline height (795 vs 500 units), counting the dot, which floats above the dashed line | on the baseline (15 units below it at the lowest point) | 305 units including the exit stroke |
| Uppercase I | 102% of capital height (1016 vs 1000 units): the top just clears the top line | on the baseline (18 units below it at the lowest point) | 934 units including the finishing stroke |
Units are the typeface's own grid. Read from the font file of Playwrite US Trad; see how these are made.
Practice sheet
A single page that fits US Letter and A4. Each letter gets a model row, which starts with a dark copy to imitate followed by gray letters to trace, and a row that is all tracing. Word rows to trace and empty rows for writing alone come after.