Calligraphy across the world and in various languages, has seen a rise in popularity in recent times. Practicing calligraphy can be difficult if you don’t know where to start or have a guide. This is why you need calligraphy templates that work as guidelines to help us write beautiful and styled letters, numbers or other characters.
The templates are kind of beginner calligraphy practice sheets (PDF), which are easy to be edited by PDF template editor, SwifDoo PDF.
Let’s learn more about calligraphy and how to free download calligraphy practice sheets, organize and print them in one go.
What Is Calligraphy?
Calligraphy is a form of artistic lettering. While some call it decorative writing, it is known to be more art than writing and many people use it in wedding or special occasion invitations. Calligraphy is thought to have originated in China around 300 BCE and was adopted through the rest of the world.
Today, many people enjoy the art of modern and traditional calligraphy, and a quick google search will produce results from anything about how to learn, the easiest way to start calligraphy, and sites to download calligraphy templates/beginner calligraphy practice sheets in PDF online.
Types of Calligraphy and Calligraphy Templates
Roughly, there are three types of calligraphy considered, namely Western calligraphy, Eastern calligraphy, and Arabic calligraphy. Some specialists argue that Islamic Calligraphy should be the fourth type.
Among them, Western calligraphy represented by old English calligraphy and Eastern calligraphy represented by Chinese calligraphy have a considerable number of penmen and calligraphers. As a result, tons of Chinese and old English calligraphy templates and beginner calligraphy practice sheets are free downloadable or hot selling. Here are simple introductions to the two types of calligraphy.
Western calligraphy
- Western calligraphy refers to the art of writing popular in North America, Europe, and other countries or regions in the Western world. It’s created by latin alphabet mainly, sometimes by the Cyrillic or Greek alphabets. You can download old english calligraphy alphabet or letters templates on the Jake Rainis site.
- In old english calligraphy, script types or fonts include Gothic script, Barbarian script, Fraktur font, and Blackletter font.
- The tool writers use is a dip pen. According to the style and font, you can choose a round, flex, or italic broad nib.
Eastern calligraphy
- Eastern calligraphy has Chinese calligraphy, Japanese calligraphy, Korean, and other calligraphic styles. Chinese Calligraphy is the art of writing Chinese characters and viewed as the visual art form. Chinese Printables and Bite-sized Chinese offer many downloadable Chinese calligraphy practice sheets in PDF format for beginners.
- It more focuses on the sequencing of the strokes. Some of the writing styles are seal script, cursive script, and block script.
- Ink brush, paper, ink and inkstone are the essential materials and tools in Chinese calligraphy writing. A pen is also used in the modern era.
Downloading Calligraphy Templates or Practice Sheets on PDF
Regardless of Eastern, Western, or another type of calligraphy, you can find calligraphy examples or templates that are free and printable on Google. There are commonly calligraphy numbers templates, printable calligraphy lined paper, calligraphy alphabet or letters templates, grid printable Chinese calligraphy worksheets or practice paper, and so on. If you are a newbie to calligraphy, basic strokes practice worksheets are useful.
These templates are not just limited to adults, but also can be aimed toward younger audiences, such as children if they are currently learning or practising calligraphy.
So, you are ready to practice some calligraphy, or perhaps you have a child that wants to give it a go? Go ahead and download your PDF beginner calligraphy practice sheets or templates for free.
Step 1: Enter into a free template download site such as Amy Latta Creations, Dawn Nicole, SunCatcherStudio, Best Ed Lessons;
Step 2: Search and find your preferred calligraphy templates or practice sheets such as lettering practice sheets in PDF by checking the navigation bar or typing in a word like "calligraphy" or "practice sheet" to the search bar;
Step 3: Download the printable template PDFs you wish to use onto your computer.
From these sites, you can collect all sorts of alphabet lowercase or uppercase writing practice worksheets PDFs, strokes practice worksheets, and some other templates. Then, use the respective PDF software, SwifDoo PDF to organize, print out and edit the calligraphy PDFs.
Organizing Calligraphy Templates or Practice Sheets on PDF
If you have downloaded some great calligraphy font templates online, it's better to put the templates with same fonts together. To do that, you can use SwifDoo PDF software to combine all the calligraphy font templates into one PDF and then reorder the PDF pages as needed. This is the tutorial for merging and rearranging your template PDFs.
Step 1: Free download and launch SwifDoo PDF software, click PDF Merging in the home tab;
Step 2: In SwifDoo PDF Converter dialog box, click Add Files to import your multiple PDF calligraphy sheets for beginners. Enter a file name, and choose an output path;
Step 3: Press Start to combine the templates into one PDF;
Step 4: Click Open Documents in SwifDoo PDF Converter box to access the combined template PDF;
Step 5: Tap on the Page menu on the top, then drag and reorder the PDF pages.
When you're done, use the "Save as" and "Print" feature of SwifDoo PDF to save and print the calligraphy template PDF.
- Annotate, and edit your PDF calligraphy templates for free
- Organize, convert, compress, split, and merge PDF files
Windows 11/10/8.1/7/XP
Printing Calligraphy Practice Sheets or Templates on PDF
Once you are happy with your calligraphy template(s), you can hit the save button and print them off using the “Print” function. To ensure there are no issues with printing, make sure your printer is correctly connected to your PC before you attempt to print. Here is how to print a calligraphy template PDF.
Step 1: After opening your template PDF in SwifDoo PDF, go to SwifDoo and select Print;
Step 2: Adjust printer settings and hit Print to print your free full font calligraphy templates onto paper.
This way, you can have a physical copy of the PDF calligraphy practice sheets that can be used for personal use, teaching purposes, or simply, practice. These printed copies can then be turned into booklets, eliminating the need to purchase expensive calligraphy books.
SwifDoo PDF also allows you to manage these calligraphy template PDFs by adding annotations or text as well as drawing on them apart from combining multiple template PDF files together.
This of course is not necessary, but it can be done if users find it suitable respective to their own requirements. SwifDooPDF, like any PDF editing and printing software, retains formatting and font content from the original templates upon opening them. This makes things a lot simpler for any user.
Things You May Want to Know about Calligraphy
Since you’ve known the three or four broad types of calligraphy and multiple calligraphy fonts, what is the easiest to learn and how do you start a beginner calligraphy? Here is a quick look at the answers.
The Easiest Calligraphy to Learn
Faux calligraphy is considered by many to be the easiest to learn for beginners. Some of the reasons are: no requirement for a writing instrument so you can use a pencil, dip pen, or ballpoint pen, etc.; Faux calligraphy as a modern calligraphy is less restrictive than traditional calligraphy. Free faux calligraphy worksheets can be saved from Kelly Sugar Crafts or Archer and Olive.
How to Start a Beginner Calligraphy
Tips for starting calligraphy are as follows:
- Determine the type of calligraphy, compare various calligraphy fonts, and choose your favorite or a simple one.
- Prepare materials and tools for practicing the chosen calligraphy font, such as pen and paper.
- Focus on basic exercises, such as strokes, lines, and character spacing.
- Download, merge, and print calligraphy templates or beginner calligraphy practice sheets.
- Watch calligraphy teaching videos.
App to Turn Handwriting into Font
If you want to transform your own handwriting into a font to create your own calligraphy template, use the Calligraphr or MyScriptFont app. It allows you to create a free account on its website. The website offers step-by-step tutorials for how to create a font. You can download a template from the app, fill it in in the Procreate app, or print and fill it in by hand.
Conclusion
Whether you want to know where to download free or paid calligraphy templates, how to edit and convert template PDFs, ways to create your own calligraphy fonts, or suggested tips for beginner calligraphy, this article has you covered. By the way, to learn anything, it takes persistence to succeed, not just interest. Hope you can get the information you need from this article.
Charlotte