Best products from r/Handwriting

We found 59 comments on r/Handwriting discussing the most recommended products. We ran sentiment analysis on each of these comments to determine how redditors feel about different products. We found 121 products and ranked them based on the amount of positive reactions they received. Here are the top 20.

Top comments mentioning products on r/Handwriting:

u/kerrific · 1 pointr/Handwriting

You can see over here on Fountain Pen Network how the exercises are set up in Fred Eager's The Italic
Way to Beautiful Handwriting: Cursive & Calligraphic.
It's the book I've had for a few years that I've been very slowly practicing through. I don't care much for classic cursive, but found Italic from this book, Getty & Dubay, or Rosemary Sassoon have been helpful for some improvement.

In Sassoon's book, Improve Your Handwriting, she'll guide you through some things and you can see samples of improvement after just a few hours of practice. This book is worth checking out from the library. There should be some free resources on the Getty-Dubay website, including an exemplar you can copy over with tracing paper. You can also see samples of improved writing.

Good luck with your journey in improving your hand! Just 10-15 minutes practice a day will help you significantly :)

u/borkthegee · 2 pointsr/Handwriting

I'm still a newbie too so don't take my word as anything other than a fellow person learning too, but I've recently gotten the Pilot Metropolitan (a fountain pen)

Amazon has one for around $10 https://www.amazon.com/Pilot-Metropolitan-Collection-Fountain-91107/dp/B009X9Z2FW (that's medium nib, I prefer a fine nib for writing small such as a dot journal, and medium for larger writing such as lined paper or unlined).

My local pen guy calls it "absolutely the best pen under $100, bar none" and "don't bother buying another pen until you save up $120-150 and can afford a gold nib", so for $10-15 that makes it a super easy way to get into writing with one.

Why use a fountain pen? With a cartridge they're hassle free but regardless of ink supply they're very nice to write with. Almost no pressure required at all, a very simple and smooth glide over the paper. Easy to hold and you can hold it reverse to get an even finer line (at the cost of losing some of the smoothness of the glide).

Plus if you get into it, you can replace the disposable cartridges with a converter that lets you actually suck up from a bottle of ink and do it the old school way, and there's something "zen" or meditative about using great paper, a great pen, and treating writing practice as a form of mindfulness practice. But maybe that's just me :P

EDIT: On the total other side of the spectrum, if fountain isn't for you, I used to make cheaply rigged Mont Blanc rollerballs. The rollerballs are better than ballpoint (but not as smooth as fountain). I would buy Mont Blanc rollerball refills for like $7, and G2 Gel pens, and then one could cut a little bit off of the end of the Mont Blanc rollerball refill and place it into the Gel pen case after removing the gel ink. http://www.instructables.com/id/Save-$200-in-2-minutes-and-have-the-worlds-best-wr/ http://www.instructables.com/id/Mont-Black-Mont-Blanc-Hack-fitting-the-new-Mon/ That would get you a very high quality writing experience for cheap I bet

u/archiurban · 1 pointr/Handwriting

Thank you, /u/wilontherun for /u/Lil_Giygas, for your compliments! I really appreciate your feedback!


I feel like I'm still in between the N4 and N3 level (except for Kanji, as I know about 1600 so far because they're lots of fun), but I'm still learning and trying to review the grammar and vocabulary I learned thus far for those levels. In the meantime, I bought books and some architecture magazines to practice reading, but novels are still a bit above my level in terms of vocabulary. My hope is to start studying N2 material (grammar and vocabulary in this book) to make reading and using the language easier. I'm still working on the listening portion, as I find it can be hard to pick out words or understand completely stuff I hear from TV shows and in podcasts (aside from words, I find people speak a bit too quickly or almost mumble, like with old people).

I don't get too much of a chance to speak because I'm self-studying in Canada and haven't yet visited Japan. I think those two things I need to figure out a way to improve those two. I have some JLPT listening books, and I try to listen to audio recordings and TV/ movies to bring my listening comprehension and speed up. As well, I'm now trying to practice writing composition. It's still a bit slow and take my time, and I need to edit what I write. I'd like to improve to the extent that I can write university-level essays coherently like native speakers can.


I'm sure with more work I'll get there eventually. :)

u/WearWhatWhere · 2 pointsr/Handwriting

For a fountain pen, I would recommend (not really calligraphy, but they do look fancy compared to ballpoints)

  • Noodler's Nib Creaper: +Cheap. +Has some line variation. +Fun. +You can learn to tinker with the nib. -Not the best for new users to fountain pens (piston filler, you'l need to buy a bottle of ink too). -Not known to be the most consistent or most reliable. -Pretty low ink capacity. -Weird smell...


  • LAMY Safari or Pilot Metropolitan: +On the cheaper end. +Reliable. +New user friendly. +Comes with ink cartridges. +Probably 2 most popular beginner pens. -LAMY has a triangle grip, so if your grip isn't "standard," it could feel weird.


  • Jinhao (x750 or x450 are popular but they have a lot of other nice looking pens) +Fancy looking. +Really cheap. +Feels kinda expensive (heavy). +Comes with ink converter. -Bad quality control. -Need to buy a bottle of ink.


    For calligraphy, I would recommend


  • Shaeffer pen set I started with an old, old set of these and enjoyed them very much. But they could be a little bit inconsistent sometimes.


  • Pilot Parallel Pens. You don't need the whole set- I started with just the 2.4mm orange one and it is still my favorite.


  • Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pen The line variation that these provide are pretty clear. I prefer the hard brush.


  • Speedball calligraphy sets are supposed to be good for beginners. I've never tried them before though.


  • Colonial Oblique Holder I started with this and a Nikko G nib. Bought some walnut ink crystals with it- lasts a while even for small quantity.



    Edit: Like shugpug said, It depends what script you are trying to practice.
u/motivates_you · 1 pointr/Handwriting

You're welcome. There are so many places to start it can be overwhelming. Step one is figure out what you're trying to learn. Do you want to learn cursive? calligraphy? printing? There are many styles. Step two is practicing your butt off. I write in cursive every day, all day.

I keep a work journal and am sure to write in cursive in it. When I'm on the phone or in a meeting, instead of doodling I write words in cursive or I write individual letters over and over. I have a sketchbook that I currently practice in. The weight of the paper does a good job of accepting the ink from my Lamy fountain pen. Oh, pens.

Find a good pen that you like. A fantastic start is an F301 ball point pen. I LOVE this pen for an everyday writer. The gel ones are even better. Then get a legal pad or a steno pad and just practice your butt off. It takes time.

I'd be happy to help with whatever.

u/Sat3rn · 5 pointsr/Handwriting

As strange as it may sound, the best thing that happened to me was acquiring a fountain pen.

Initially, I purchased the Spencerian Penmanship Copybooks and I found that basic repetition of simple strokes really helped to make myself aware of my hand and finger movements. The books helped me to, more than anything else, sit down in once place for an hour or so and simply focus on the techniques of writing. It got me familiar with practicing writing.

This is where the fountain pen comes in. I practiced my writing with a fountain pen, and the way the nub works and the weight of the pen made me very conscious of my every movement. Looking at my fountain pen writing, I was convinced that my handwriting hadn't improved. Yet when I set down my fountain pen and took up a normal ballpoint, the difference was easily noticeable; writing with a ballpoint pen was suddenly so easy. That was when I realized how my writing had improved.

Hope this helps, and best of luck in school!

tldr; Repetition and practice, coupled with a fountain pen.

u/JessTheMullet · 2 pointsr/Handwriting

I bought the mott media reprint of the original Spencerian workbooks off of Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/088062096X It's rather old-fashioned, but it'll get you the basics and you can adapt it to regular use without much effort. Spencerian was originally supposed to be efficient, and with practice, you're supposed to be able to write it at a pretty good speed while still having it be easy to read.

u/Wrath3n · 3 pointsr/Handwriting

Back in September I decided two things I wanted to get into fountain pens and I wanted to improve my handwriting. Before September it had been 15-18 years since I had written anything but my signature in cursive. I think I'm doing pretty good but I'm still not happy with it.... but I think I'm at the point were I wont see any more rapid improvements and I just need to keep writing and it will come over time. But if anyone has any ideas on how to improve my handwriting I'm open ears. I'm thinking about ordering Spencerian Penmanship book and workbooks. Anyone have any thoughts on them or others I might try?

u/IMadeThisForY2JsAMA · 10 pointsr/Handwriting

Thank you! I've actually left the model number at work but I'll be sure to tell you in the morning.

Edit: It's a part of Stratton's Rollerball Series, model number ST1014!

Very reasonably priced, writes very smoothly and capable of delicate movements when needed. However it's worth noting that its a pretty heavy pen (especially the top), and Ihave had some issues with the twist-top coming somewhat loose before.

u/Pinkhoo · 1 pointr/Handwriting

All that training was needed for endurance writing. Now that we don't write very much simple practice with a modern pen on lived paper will improve penmanship enough.

I recommend something like this The Italic Way to Beautiful Handwriting: Cursive and Calligraphic https://www.amazon.com/dp/1626540381/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_wnnPBbZMBD6XG

u/Rellik4776 · 1 pointr/Handwriting

Spencerian Handwriting: the Complete Collection of Theory and Practical Workbooks For Perfect Cursive and Hand Lettering.
It's on Amazon, and was written by Platts Roger Spencer, the guy who invented Spencerian. Has all the lessons and the copy books in one complete edition. Bought it myself to learn Spencerian, and am finding it really useful.
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1612435289/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_7txAq2OXRbkQW

u/ANauticalVehicle · 1 pointr/Handwriting

Yeah, here are some links to IAMPETH: 1 2

2 is a collection of Spencerian examples by master penmen and the first are a few practice sheets. There are also a few books you can get through Amazon (or possibly locally depending your location). 1 2


I would recommend the latter, but it is often expensive/unobtainable. The guides online can help a lot too, though I recommend you print off the sheets and trace the letterforms for a while to get them down.

u/James_Of_Scots · 4 pointsr/Handwriting

I think your handwriting looks fine, but if you are wanting cursive, I could recommend the Spencerian penmanship (theory book plus five copybooks) I own these books, and I love them. It's a system based on ovals, and meant for speed, due to the 52° slant. I have linked below, both the UK link to buy them, and a US link.

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Theory-Book-Copybooks-Spencerian-Penmanship/dp/088062096X

US: https://www.amazon.com/Spencerian-Penmanship-Theory-Book-copybooks/dp/088062096X

u/Liz4tin · 2 pointsr/Handwriting

Is it a problem with both hands or just your dominant hand?

Edit: here's a great book with exercises that teach how to write with your non dominant hand. If the problem is in just one hand.

http://www.amazon.com/Handwriting-Heroes-Learn-Non-Dominant-Weeks/dp/1932690697

u/dwarvenbeard · 1 pointr/Handwriting

That's actually quite nice to hear, my family have been awful about it and I think it's kinda made me a bit overly worried about it.


Basically everything that is in this book.

I have noticed that when I'm writing slowly on things like christmas cards my handwriting does improve, I might try to do this with note-taking and hopefully start to see some actual improvement.

u/coffeepandatime · 1 pointr/Handwriting

Thank you! It's a work in progress.
I really appreciate your comment.
Those pens are the 筆touchサインペン.
At the moment I live in Japan so they are available at most places that sell stationary and writing supplies.

I think this is the English equivalent. Pentel Sign Pen

u/SalAtWork · 1 pointr/Handwriting

There are so many ways to answer this one.

When I was younger my favorite pens were gel pens and mechanical pencils.

For YEARS from High school - post college I was partial to zebra's F-301.

In the past 2 years I was fixated on [Sharpie's Ultra Fine Point] (http://static1.jetpens.com/images/a/000/054/54716.jpg) when I needed to fill out documents for work because it was a solid black. Which morphed into me wanting an even finer point Micron.

I then swung back to pens instead of markers after grabbing a Pilot Varsity disposable fountain pen. It was amazing and I've bought about 10 more since then just for filling out timesheets for work.

Most recently I got a Pilot Metropolitan fine for Christmas which is fantastic, but has only gotten about 25 minutes of use out if it so far.

I also want a brush pen, but haven't taken the time to pick one up at hobby lobby or Michaels yet.

u/[deleted] · 3 pointsr/Handwriting

Looks like a Pentel Fude Touch Sign Pen.

I have a set and they are amazing!

u/brutal_chaos · 1 pointr/Handwriting

In the sidebar is Handwriting repair: The italic approach.pdf for something free/crash course. I just purchased The Italic Way to Beautiful Handwriting: Cursive and Calligraphic by Fred Eager to start learning Italic Cursive myself.

u/BigChiefJoe · 2 pointsr/Handwriting

They are seriously the best.

And full color sets? They exist! I've got one on an Amazon wishlist!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0141NPU5G/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_awdb_XDT5ybDCY93BB

Are you perhaps an engineer or architect? That printing is what my professors wanted mine to be, and it just never happened.

u/cityroasted · 1 pointr/Handwriting

I've picked up some good tips from this book (Improve Your Handwriting by Sassoon & Briem). Got me to think differently about the shapes of letters and how they join (or not), and what I want out of my handwriting.

u/CitizenHistorian · 1 pointr/Handwriting

Don't have yellow notepads in my country unfortunately, but good point on the smudging. I'm going to try this journal and see what happens: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B075F953ZQ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A3F3W9OERZ10EW&psc=1

u/Evoletization · 8 pointsr/Handwriting

This. Actually you might find the pdf for free since it's quite old, this is from IAMPETH.