Italic Handwriting: What It Is and How to Learn It

What is italic handwriting?

Italic handwriting is a slightly slanted, semi-joined style of everyday writing built on Renaissance letterforms. The letters keep shapes close to print, the arches spring out of the downstrokes, and the writing leans forward just a little. There are no loops.

Its roots are old. The script grew out of humanist minuscule in Renaissance Italy, and Wikipedia's history of the italic script credits Niccolò de' Niccoli with developing it and notes that it used oblique forms, fewer strokes per letter and joins between letters. According to the Society for Italic Handwriting, the hand was adopted for diplomatic work in the chanceries at Venice and Rome around 1447, which is why it is also called the chancery hand. The same article says it appeared in its most finished form in the first known writing manual, published in 1522 by the Vatican scribe Ludovico degli Arrighi.

Italic faded and came back. Wikipedia credits Monica Bridges' 1905 book with reviving italic in British schools, and Alfred Fairbank's 1932 manual carried it further. The Society for Italic Handwriting was founded in 1952 by Fairbank and Joseph Compton to spread the practice of the script. In the United States, a modern teaching italic was developed in 1976 in Portland, Oregon, by Barbara Getty and Inga Dubay, according to Wikipedia, with the goal of making the move from print to cursive easier.

So when people say "italic handwriting" today they usually mean one of these modern versions: a practical hand for notes, letters and journals, written with an ordinary pen.

Italic vs cursive: what is the difference?

The short answer: looped cursive joins nearly every letter and adds loops to tall and descending letters, while italic keeps print-like letter shapes, joins only where a join is natural, and has no loops. One italic curriculum overview puts it plainly: cursive italic does not contain the loops that are common in conventional US cursive styles.

That has some practical effects. Because the letters stay close to print, there is much less to relearn. The same overview says basic italic and cursive italic lowercase letters are essentially identical, with small entry or exit strokes added to 15 letters so they can join. It also says 20 of the basic italic lowercase letters need no pen lift and the other six need just one.

Calligrapher Gunnlaugur Briem describes italic as a contemporary version of a fifteenth and sixteenth century style that suits modern writing instruments, with a slight slant, a 2:3 width to height proportion, and bowls with a somewhat triangular shape. He also points out a weakness of the looped cursive e: its loop is easily confused with a low l or a t missing its crossbar.

If you want the bigger picture on the two main school styles, see how print and cursive compare.

Why some adults switch to italic

Plenty of adults stopped using cursive years ago and drifted into a fast print that gets messy under pressure. Italic is a common fix for that, and the reasons are mostly practical.

• Less to relearn. If your print is already decent, italic asks you to narrow the letters, add a slight lean and learn a handful of joins. Looped cursive asks you to learn a second alphabet.
• It holds up at speed. A handwriting program's case for italic argues that looped cursive loses legibility when written quickly and that its loops collide with letters on the lines above and below. Italic has no loops to collide.
• One hand for every job. The same source notes that italic users can move between a printed version (for forms or whiteboards) and a joined version (for notes or letters) without changing letter shapes.
• It looks good. Briem calls italic both legible and handsome, which matters if you write cards, journals or anything other people will read.

None of this means looped cursive is wrong. If you already write a clear cursive you like, keep it. Italic is simply a sensible option when your current handwriting isn't working for you and you'd rather adjust than start over.

Letter families: the efficient way to learn italic

Italic is taught in groups of letters that share the same core movement, so practicing one shape improves several letters at once. One US italic program teaches lowercase letters in eight family groups, moving from simple vertical strokes to arches and ellipses. Exact groupings vary between teachers and books. The grouping below is one practical way to organize your own practice sheets:

• Straight strokes: i, j, l, t. These train a consistent slant and spacing.
• Arches from the downstroke: n, m, h, r, then b, p and k. The arch branches up out of the stem about halfway, rather than starting at the bottom.
• The "a" shape: a, d, g, q, then u and y. This family uses the one-story a, a form italic popularized, which Wikipedia notes simplified the letter from two stories to one.
• Ovals and curves: o, e, c, s. Keep these narrow and slightly oval.
• Diagonals: v, w, x, z.
• Odd ones out: f, which often drops below the baseline in italic.

Work through one family per session. Write a row of the letters, then a row of short words that use only that family and the families before it (for example "mint", "him", "hand"). Capitals come later; italic capitals are based on Roman forms and are worth their own sessions.

Getting the slant right

Italic leans forward only slightly. Sources describe it in slightly different ways: one US curriculum recommends a 5 degree slope, Wikipedia describes the same program's slant as 85 degrees from the baseline (the same thing measured the other way), and Briem says a slight slant of three to four degrees. In plain terms, aim for letters that lean forward a few degrees from vertical, and keep that lean the same across the whole line.

Consistency matters more than the exact number. A line of letters that all lean 5 degrees reads well. A line where some lean 2 degrees and others lean 12 looks untidy even if every letter is well formed.

A note on this site's slant paper

Our slant guide paper draws slant lines at 52, 55 or 60 degrees from the baseline. Those angles suit looped cursive, which leans much further than italic, so they lean more than an italic hand needs. For italic, the more useful settings on that page are the 4-line paper (it shows the x-height, ascender and descender space clearly) and Seyes ruling. Use the slant paper as a contrast exercise if you are moving from looped cursive to italic, and write deliberately more upright than the guides.

What this site can and can't do for italic yet

To be straightforward: Handwriting Practice Worksheets does not have a dedicated italic font or italic style yet. The worksheet tools offer print, slanted print, traditional cursive and modern cursive, so you won't find italic letter models to trace here.

What you can do is build the drills italic needs around blank and lined paper:

• On the handwriting worksheet generator, choose slanted print with a small line size (3/8 in or 5/16 in) and type words drawn from the letter families above. Slanted print isn't italic: its letters are rounder, it has no italic joins, and it leans about 10 degrees, roughly twice an italic slant. Use it to practice keeping one steady lean, and write a little more upright than the model.
• Print blank 4-line paper from the handwriting paper page and write your italic family drills from a good model in a book or class handout.
• For copying longer passages once your letters are steady, the copywork generator gives you a model line plus blank rows to copy into.

A four-week italic practice plan

Plan on 15 to 20 minutes a day and write slowly. Speed comes later on its own.

1. Week 1, straight strokes and arches. Rows of i, l, t and j, then n, m, h, r. Focus on a steady slant and on branching the arch out of the stem. End each session with five short words from those letters.
2. Week 2, the "a" family and ovals. Add a, d, g, q, u, y, then o, e, c, s. Keep the shapes narrow. Compare your a and your o side by side; they should look like close relatives.
3. Week 3, the rest plus joins. Add b, p, k, v, w, x, z and f. Start joining pairs that flow naturally, such as an, in, um, and leave a lift wherever a join feels forced.
4. Week 4, capitals and real writing. Practice capitals a few at a time, then write a paragraph a day: a grocery list, a journal entry, a short letter. Circle the two letters that look worst and drill only those the next day.

Keep your first page from week 1 and compare it with a page from week 4. Seeing the two side by side tells you more than any checklist.

Questions people ask

Sources

1. Italic script, Wikipedia
2. The Evolution of the Chancery Hand, Society for Italic Handwriting
3. The Society for Italic Handwriting (home page), Society for Italic Handwriting
4. A modern handwriting style, with heritage, Gunnlaugur SE Briem
5. Getty-Dubay Italic, Wikipedia
6. Curriculum Overview 2026 (PDF), Handwriting Success
7. Why cursive, Handwriting Success