The Palmer Method
Practice Palmer Method
Worksheet and print settings
Print at 100% (Actual size).
Palmer Method alphabet
Open a letter from the Palmer chart to set its wide, unshaded form beside the other four styles.
Print the Palmer Method alphabet
Keep the Palmer sheet beside plain ruled paper as your copy, or print the SVG at any size for tracing.
What makes Palmer Method distinct
- The letters lean far to the right and are wide, so a word travels along the line.
- Strokes keep one even weight; there is no shading.
- Capitals are larger than the small letters and swing through wide ovals and long connecting strokes.
A short history of Palmer Method
Austin Norman Palmer introduced the Palmer Method from the 1890s. It is a plain, arm-movement style of business writing that was taught in US schools.
Palmer published Palmer’s Guide to Business Writing in 1894 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Its drills of ovals and push-pull strokes were standard in American classrooms through the first half of the 1900s.
How to practice Palmer Method
- Trace. Warm up with Palmer’s drills, rows of joined ovals and push-pull strokes moved from the forearm, then trace the small letters in the tool.
- Copy. Copy the small letters at full width and let each word travel along the line without lifting.
- Write words. Write a line of words such as mine, union and money at an even pace, then repeat it a little faster.
The method is built on arm movement: let the arm carry each word across the line in one smooth motion rather than drawing it letter by letter with the fingers.
Open a letter
Each letter page gives stroke steps, joins and a mistake to watch for, and shows the Palmer form beside the other styles.
Other cursive styles
Spencerian script
An ornate business script from the mid-1800s, written with shaded strokes.
Zaner-Bloser
The Columbus, Ohio method of Charles Zaner and Elmer Bloser, widely used in US schools.
