Cursive reader

Upload a photo of an old letter, diary or recipe card. We read the cursive and write it out in plain print.

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What your result looks like

Example with made-up details

Full transcription

Des Moines, Iowa, Oct. 14, 1943
Dear Bobby,
Your letter came Tuesday and we were all
so glad to hear from you. Pa read it out
loud twice at supper.
We are all well here. The victory garden
did fine this year and I put up forty
quarts of tomatoes and beans. Sugar is
still short, so no pies until the new
ration stamps come.
Sis started at the telephone office and
makes $18 a week. She is saving every
dime for a winter coat.
Pa fixed the old Ford himself and says
it runs better than ever.
Write when you can, even a V-mail.
Love from all of us, and from Aunt Hattie [?]
Mother

In plain modern English

Des Moines, Iowa, October 14, 1943

Dear Bobby,

Your letter came on Tuesday and we were all so glad to hear from you. Dad read it out loud twice at dinner.

We are all well here. The victory garden (a wartime vegetable garden) did well this year, and I canned forty quarts of tomatoes and beans. Sugar is still scarce, so no pies until the new ration stamps arrive.

Your sister started working at the telephone office and earns $18 a week (roughly $300 today). She is saving every dime for a winter coat.

Dad fixed the old Ford himself and says it runs better than ever.

Write when you can, even a V-mail.

Love from all of us, and from Aunt Hattie [?]
Mother

Notes

The letter is written in the joined-up school cursive most Americans learned in the first half of the 20th century.
“Victory garden”: during World War II, families grew vegetables at home so more food could go to the troops.
“Put up”: canned or preserved in jars for the winter.
“Ration stamps”: from 1942, sugar, coffee, meat and gasoline were rationed; families bought them with stamps from government ration books.
“V-mail”: Victory Mail. Letters to soldiers overseas were photographed onto film to save space and printed out again on arrival.
“$18 a week”: roughly $300 a week in today’s money.
“Pa” and “Sis”: family words for father and sister.
“Hattie”: the name is smudged at the end of the line, so it is not read with full certainty.

Next steps

Compare the uncertain name “Hattie” with other letters from the family where it is written more clearly.
If the letter has more pages or an envelope, upload them too, so nothing of the content is missing.
Print the transcription and keep it with the original, so your family can read the letter later.

Unsure words are marked [?]. For very important documents, please also have the transcription checked by an expert.

What you get

Transcription: word for word in print, line by line
Plain English: the text in modern spelling, abbreviations written out
Notes: old words, abbreviations, names and places explained
Honesty: unsure words are marked [?]
Old German letters too: Sütterlin and Kurrent, translated into English

Questions and answers

What can you read?+

Cursive handwriting in English: letters, postcards, diaries, journals, recipe cards, deeds and family records, typically from the 1800s to today. Old German script (Sütterlin, Kurrent) and other languages are translated into English.

Is it free?+

You see the script, the kind of document and the first page for free. More pages start at $1.99; you see the price before you decide.

How accurate is it?+

Very accurate on clear originals. Words we are unsure of are marked [?], so you can check them yourself. For very important documents, have an expert check the transcription too.

Can't I just use a text scanner?+

Ordinary text scanners are made for print and struggle with joined-up cursive, faded ink and old spelling. Our reader is made for handwriting and also explains old words, names and abbreviations.

How do I take a good photo?+

In daylight, without flash, with the page flat and filling the frame. Photograph each page separately.

What happens to my photos?+

They are only used to read the text and are not stored.

Automatic transcription. Unsure words are marked [?].