PODCAST · EPISODE 4

Print, Slanted Print, Cursive, D’Nealian: How to Choose

Upright print, slanted print and cursive explained, why named programs belong to their publishers, and a simple way to choose a practice model.

Season 1 · Episode 4 · 2:18 · October 12, 2026

Try it free →All episodes

In this episode

Three visual styles: upright print, slanted print, cursive.
A style is not a curriculum: D’Nealian, Zaner-Bloser and Handwriting Without Tears belong to their publishers; TraceTheName is independent.
The slanted print option uses the open-license Edu NSW ACT Foundation font — it is not D’Nealian.
Try today: print one name in upright and slanted print, and see which your learner finds easier to follow.

Links from this episode

Sources

Transcript

Print. Slanted print. Cursive. D’Nealian. Zaner-Bloser. The names get confusing fast.

In five minutes, you’ll know what’s a style, what’s a program, and which one to print.

Start with three visual styles. Upright print: separate, simple letters. Slanted print: leans forward, and can make the move toward cursive feel natural. Cursive: letters connected in a flowing line.

Here’s the catch. A visual style isn’t the same as a full handwriting program. D’Nealian is published by Savvas. Zaner-Bloser publishes its own materials. Handwriting Without Tears is from Learning Without Tears. Their letter forms and lessons belong to those publishers. Trace the Name is independent, and not affiliated with any of them.

So what does our slanted option do? It uses the open-license Edu NSW ACT Foundation font, a free slanted school print. Choose school slant print in the tracing style list, edit the words, and download. The font is embedded in the file, so it prints the same on any device.

And let’s be crystal clear. This is not D’Nealian. It’s an independent, open-license font, and a useful general model of slanted print. If your lesson needs the exact D’Nealian models, use the publisher’s materials.

Same name, two styles. Upright first. Now slanted. Try both. See which one your learner finds easier to follow.

Which font is it exactly? Edu NSW ACT Foundation, licensed under the SIL Open Font License 1.1. The license text ships with the font on the site, so you can read it yourself.

How do you choose? Match what the learner is being taught. Then compare the printout with the classroom example: the letter forms, the size, the connections. Our styles guide lists the primary sources it checked, on September twenty-ninth, twenty twenty-six.

The styles guide is at trace the name dot com, slash guides, slash handwriting dash styles. The slanted print page is in the description. Pick the model that matches the lesson. Keep practice short.

More episodes

RSS feed — paste it into any podcast app. Free, no account, and every episode is about two minutes.