Name Tracing Worksheet Generator

How to make a name tracing worksheet

1. Type the name. The sheet redraws as you type. The first row is the name in solid letters to look at; the dotted rows below it are the same letters to trace, each row a little lighter than the one above, so the child leans on the dots less and less; the empty lines at the bottom are for writing the name alone.
2. Pick the letters: Title (Olivia) is how a name is usually written and what most kindergarten name cards use; UPPER suits a child who only knows capitals yet; lower is for practising the small letters on their own.
3. Pick the size and the lines. Preschool letters are 20 mm from the top line to the baseline, kindergarten 15 mm and grade 1 11 mm. Smaller letters fit more practice rows on the page.
4. Download the PDF and print it at 100% (“Actual size”). The page starts on US Letter if your browser is set to US or Canadian English and on A4 everywhere else. The PNG is the same page at 300 dpi, for a tablet app or a laminated sheet.

Questions

Is this name tracing worksheet generator free?

Yes, with no sign-up, no watermark, no limit and no paid version. The sheet is drawn in your browser, so the names you type never reach a server; the only thing this page counts is that a download happened, never what it said.

What is on each page?

On A4 at preschool size: one solid model row, four dotted rows that fade from dark grey to light grey, and two empty lines. Kindergarten size fits one model row, six to trace and two empty lines; grade 1 fits one, eight and two or three. US Letter is 18 mm shorter than A4, so at preschool size it keeps one empty line instead of two. When a name is too wide for one line (a long name in capitals at preschool size, for example BARTHOLOMEW), every copy of it goes over two lines, so the child always traces the whole name in the same place it was shown.

What are the start dots and arrows?

A green dot marks where each stroke of each letter starts, on the model row and on every dotted row. On the model row a small orange arrow on each stroke shows which way the pencil moves: straight lines from top to bottom, and round letters (a, c, d, g, o, q) starting near the top right and going back round to the left, which is how the ball-and-stick print style taught in many US and UK schools forms them. Turn either off if your school teaches a different style or if a child finds them distracting.

Are these name tracing worksheets good for preschool?

For 3 to 5 year olds, use the preschool size: the capitals and tall letters are 20 mm high and the small letters 10 mm, big enough for a chunky crayon or a fat pencil. Start with the first name only, in Title case or in UPPER if the child only knows capitals. Many children manage the first, darkest dotted row and then need help as the dots fade, which is the point: the last rows make them remember the shape. A sheet a day for a week does more than one sheet traced five times, so print a few copies.

What are blue-red-blue lines?

Handwriting paper for young children often colours its guide lines so a child can be told “start at the blue line, stop at the red”. With Blue-red-blue this page draws a solid blue top line, a dashed red midline and a solid blue baseline, with a lighter dashed blue line below it where the tails of g, j, p, q and y end. Grey draws the same four lines in grey, which saves colour ink and copies cleanly on a black-and-white photocopier. Both are four-line guides, so tall letters, small letters and tails each have their own band.

Can I get the worksheet as a PDF with lines for a whole class?

Yes. Paste the class list into Class set (one name per line, or a column copied from a spreadsheet, up to 40) and press Download class set PDF: one PDF with one page per child, each with that child's name, on the size, lines and paper chosen above. Print it single-sided and every child has their own sheet.

Which letters does it draw, and what are its limits?

The letters were drawn for this page as single strokes along the centre of each letter: a to z, A to Z, 0 to 9, hyphen and apostrophe. They are print letters, not cursive or D'Nealian slanted letters, and the shapes are one common ball-and-stick form, so a school's own model may differ in a detail (a 4 open at the top, a y with a curved tail). Accented letters are traced without the accent (Zoë becomes Zoe) and characters outside these sets, such as emoji, Chinese or Arabic script, are left out; the page tells you which ones.

How should I print it?

Print the PDF at 100% (“Actual size” or “Scale: 100”), not “Fit to page”, or the letters shrink. Everything sits at least 12 mm from the paper edge, so home printers do not clip the lines. Ordinary copy paper is fine; slip the sheet into a plastic sleeve and it becomes a wipe-clean board for a dry-erase marker.