silverbreeze
Crayons
Posts: 29
Looking for Penpals?: Yes. Global penpals welcome
Country I live in is: USA
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Post by silverbreeze on Feb 5, 2016 15:47:59 GMT
They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder and i think the same applies to handwriting, you may think yours is bad but to others it may be amazing because they see it as better than theirs. Since starting to write to pen pals I've had few that have been a bit of a challenge but no more than my own is to others. I usually get the gist of what's being said from the letter as a whole so if there are a few words I can't decipher it's not really an issue. All hand written letters are a gift and if they make you think a little more than usual - all the better! Christopher is also one who reads my handwriting regularly :-)
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Post by chojo on Feb 5, 2016 19:08:02 GMT
They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder and i think the same applies to handwriting, you may think yours is bad but to others it may be amazing because they see it as better than theirs. Since starting to write to pen pals I've had few that have been a bit of a challenge but no more than my own is to others. I usually get the gist of what's being said from the letter as a whole so if there are a few words I can't decipher it's not really an issue. All hand written letters are a gift and if they make you think a little more than usual - all the better! Christopher is also one who reads my handwriting regularly :-) And has no problem with it, in fact I got a card from you this morning!
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silverbreeze
Crayons
Posts: 29
Looking for Penpals?: Yes. Global penpals welcome
Country I live in is: USA
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Post by silverbreeze on Feb 5, 2016 19:30:37 GMT
Oh do write and tell me how the EcoRoller did
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Post by skye on Feb 6, 2016 18:45:20 GMT
I have found that some letters require some time apart before making another pass at reading them. In those instances I have surprised myself with how much easier they can be on a second or third or even fourth pass. If I cannot decipher what was written I just skip over the word and keep on reading, sometimes context will help convey what the writer meant.
Most of the time I *think* my handwriting is mostly easy to read although I dislike most of it. Which is why, I try and slow down when writing letters. Not sure I can read my own handwriting when I am writing fast which is why notes to myself are either in all caps or printed.
Mailartist made a good point about illegible addresses. When I am feeling particularly creative I will use the envelope to practise whatever calligraphy style suits my fancy (i need to practise more) but maybe I should practise on an envelope and tuck that inside another envelope where the address cannot be mis-read. Will have to think about that some more as some of those envelopes travel to and i am sure through some non english speaking countries.
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Post by penguy on Apr 12, 2018 21:44:13 GMT
One thing that sometimes works with difficult to read letters, especially if it is a light ink is to scan it into your computer. You can then play with color saturation and contrast as you would with a photograph. You can also enlarge the image. It might just be enough to make the writing legible.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Apr 13, 2018 7:17:38 GMT
One of my interests is genealogy and I'm used to deciphering awful handwriting in church registers. I do like the different types of handwriting that I find in the letters of my penpals.
However, I had one case that really gave me a headache. While it is not too difficult for me to guess some English words from the context, names (of unknown authors, artists etc., for example) are really, really hard to read. It is so frustrating for me as a reader, because I would really love to know what my penpal wrote.
Mia also mentioned that earlier. I would recommend that in correspondence with foreign penpals / non-native speakers, names are perhaps better printed. Addresses, too, if you start a correspondence.
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Post by radellaf on Apr 28, 2018 20:45:11 GMT
One thing that sometimes works with difficult to read letters, especially if it is a light ink is to scan it into your computer. Good idea. I have a Quark RGB flashlight I used once. Light orange gets pretty dark under blue light. It's an odd light, but these days you can get wireless controlled light bulbs with RGB LEDs. Scan or photo is a lot easier, but if you're bored or already have such a thing... I used to work at a printer ink cartridge refill store and the yellow inkjet nozzle test pattern turns black with a blue LED Keychain light so I left one by the test printers. Dunno if anyone else bothered. Qty vs Quality y'know.
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Post by Bob on Aug 17, 2018 19:16:35 GMT
I have found that some letters require some time apart before making another pass at reading them. In those instances I have surprised myself with how much easier they can be on a second or third or even fourth pass. If I cannot decipher what was written I just skip over the word and keep on reading, sometimes context will help convey what the writer meant. Most of the time I *think* my handwriting is mostly easy to read although I dislike most of it. Which is why, I try and slow down when writing letters. Not sure I can read my own handwriting when I am writing fast which is why notes to myself are either in all caps or printed. Mailartist made a good point about illegible addresses. When I am feeling particularly creative I will use the envelope to practise whatever calligraphy style suits my fancy (i need to practise more) but maybe I should practise on an envelope and tuck that inside another envelope where the address cannot be mis-read. Will have to think about that some more as some of those envelopes travel to and i am sure through some non english speaking countries. Guilty of an illegible return address. After wondering why the last two letters from one correspondent used my street number and name cut out from the envelope that I sent her, in the letter she asked how to spell the name of my street. A much-needed lesson for me to slow down. Watching videos of Master Penman Jake Weidman perform his craft inspires me to write more slowly and legibly.
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