12 Handwriting Characteristics

The thickness, strength, and flow of the letters. Some factors are if the letter is flowing, shaky, or very thick.

• line quality

• letter spacing

• height

• weight

The amount of space put between letters. The letters could all be connected or spaced drastically.

• letter spacing

• shading

• slant

• baseline habits

Simply analyzes the proportions of the handwriting. Is one letter unusually tall or short.

• height, width, and size of letters

• slant, spacing, and shading of letters

• strokes, slant, and width of letters

• letters, size, and baseline habits

The way a person writes. Do they stop before writing a new letter, or do they connect the letters? People usually use the same pen lifts, and so a forgery may stand out if all the letters are separated when the real signature connects them.

• pen lifts and separations

• letter formation

• spacing

• slant

The analyzes whether or not the capital letters are connected to lowercase letters and if words are connected.

• connecting strokes

• end strokes

• quality

• formation

How the writer begins and ends their words. Do they end with a curl, and on an upstroke or downstroke?

• beginning and ending strokes

• letter formation

• letter spacing

• baseline habits

Any peculiar, unique capital or lowercase letters. Dos the writer add any extra curls or loops where the average author would not?

• unusual letter formation

• pen lifts

• shading

• height

Analyzes where the writer presses their writing utensil down the most, either on the upstroke or the downstroke. Where the most pressure is applied is where the script is thickest.

• shading

• strokes

• letters

• separation

Looks at which way the letters tend to slant, either to the left, or not slant at all. The most average slant is to the right.

• slants

• habits

• writing

• pen lifts

Where the writer tends to write. It could be above the line, below the line, or on the line.

• baseline habits

• slant

• shading

• spacing