Handwritten place cards: a guest list in handwriting, printed and cut
Handwritten place cards are a lovely touch and a long job: eighty names in good handwriting is an evening and a half, and the eightieth never matches the first. Penmark writes the names for you in one hand, with a different variation of each letter, so two cards for guests with the same name still differ. It does not lay out card shapes for you, so the cutting stays yours.
One name per line
About 9 names a page at size 1.6. Raise the line gap for roomier cards: about 6 a page.
You cut and fold
The page is names in a column. Print on card stock, cut into strips and fold for tent cards.
Hebrew names need a Hebrew hand
A script hand such as Great Vibes has no Hebrew letters. Pick one of the 13 that do, or your own.
No two cards identical
Three variations of each letter alternate, so two guests with the same name get different cards.
How it works
- Type the guest list, one name per line, adding the table on the same line if you want it on the card
- Open Penmark and pick a script hand, or your own, choose blank paper and size 1.4 to 1.6
- Raise the line gap if you want more space around each name, then check every name in the preview
- Download the PDF, print on card stock at 100 percent, cut out each name and fold or stand it
Try it free, a ready-made hand and a first page in seconds
From guest list to a printed page
Paste the names as a list with one name per line. If you want the table on the card, add it to the same line, as in Noa Cohen, table 4: it is written as typed. The engine does not know about cards. It writes lines, so what you get is a page of names one below another, and a card is what you make of each line with scissors or a paper trimmer.
That is a limit, and it is worth being clear about. Penmark does not merge a guest list into a card template, draw a fold line or centre a name on a card. If you need a designed card with a name on it, one at a time, the invitation designer places text on 123 ready backgrounds. For a hundred plain place cards, a column of names on card stock is quicker.
How many names fit on a page
We rendered a list of 36 names on blank paper with the sample hand. At size 1.2 they took 3 pages, 12 a page. At sizes 1.4 and 1.6 they took 4 pages, 9 a page, and at size 2.0 they took 5 pages, about 7 a page. Raising the line gap to 1.6 at size 1.6 brought it to 6 pages, 6 names a page, with a lot more room to cut. A hundred guests at size 1.6 is therefore about 11 pages.
Size also decides how big each name is on the card, and 1.4 to 1.6 is a good place to start for a card a few centimetres tall. Render a page, hold a card-sized strip up against it, and adjust.
Choosing the hand: script, your own, Hebrew
A ready-made script hand looks the part: Great Vibes, Allura and Alex Brush are among the 91 hands. They are Latin only, so a Hebrew name is borrowed from another hand and looks like a different writer. For a guest list that mixes Hebrew and English names, use your own captured hand, the sample hand, or one of the 13 ready-made hands that include Hebrew letters, so every name comes from the same pen.
Names with accents are the other snag. A letter such as the é in José or the ë in Zoë is outside the 155 characters and is left blank, and the page lists it. Spell it without the accent, or add it by hand to the printed card.
Card stock, folding and cutting
Print at 100 percent and print one page first. Heavier paper is better for a tent card, so check what your printer can take. The names are left-aligned in a column with the page margin to the left, so cut each strip with equal space on both sides of the name, or the name will sit to one side of the card. Fold across the middle for a tent card, or leave flat and stand them in holders. The ink colour can be set in the preview; a printer will not give a metallic finish, so for gold ink go over the printed names with a gold pen.
Questions & answers
Can I make place cards from a guest list?
Yes, as a column of names: type or paste one name per line, print on card stock and cut each name out. Penmark does not lay out card shapes or merge a list into a template.
How many names fit on a page?
About 9 at size 1.6 on blank paper, 12 at size 1.2, and about 6 at size 1.6 with the line gap raised to 1.6.
Why is a Hebrew name written in a different hand?
A ready-made script hand without Hebrew letters borrows them from another hand. Use your own hand, the sample hand, or one of the 13 ready-made hands that include Hebrew.
What happens to a name with an accent?
The accented letter is outside the template's 155 characters and is left blank, and the page lists it. Spell the name without the accent or add it by pen.
Can two cards with the same name look different?
Yes. Three variations of each letter alternate, with small changes of size and slope, so repeated names are not identical.
Is there a designed card with a background?
The invitation designer places text on 123 ready backgrounds, one card at a time. For many plain place cards, a printed column of names is faster.
Try it free, a ready-made hand and a first page in seconds
Penmark in numbers
- Price
- Free, no account
- Characters captured
- 155 in one template: Hebrew with final letters, English, digits, punctuation, math symbols and Greek
- Time to set up
- About 10-20 minutes in total, once. Or skip it: 91 ready-made hands work immediately
- Variations per character
- Three, from the three times you write each character
- Languages
- Hebrew and English in one sentence, plus math. No niqqud, Hindi, Arabic or Cyrillic
- Output
- PDF, Word (docx) or PNG on lined, grid, dotted or blank paper
- Privacy
- Uploads deleted within about 24 hours; your library stays in your browser
- Not included
- No installable font file, no tables or graphs, no OCR of scans