I’m sure other younger genealogy enthusiasts can relate, but I can’t read cursive. Okay, maybe I can read it a little, but only when it’s simple and neat. When script, random pen marks, or new words come into play I’m out.

For a while I was using this incredible historical cursive letter guide with variations of each letter included. Picture of 1800s Lettering Guide / Backup Imgur Link.

And as much as I do love comparing letter upon letter for far too long or inundating my poor distant cousin with random screenshots of indecipherable cursive, I needed to find something more efficient.

So here we are.

Rather than going into all the apps I tried - which was way too many - I’ll just break down my favorites.

1. Favorite!!! - Pen to Print

This was the best one I tried! It separates submitted text into different lines and transcribes it for you (Imgur link of my example here). It’s also free, but you can upgrade for $11 or so a year for exporting privileges.

2. Runner Up - vFlat

Another free app, vFlat is fairly good at transcribing what you scan. It missed more words than Pen to Print, but it also caught a word that Pen to Print misread (Sample using vFlat). The app is basic, but I keep it as a backup to check the accuracy of Pen to Print’s transcriptions when in doubt.

Overall

The other apps that I tested either needed subscriptions to use or barely worked, leaving you with unreadable transcriptions. I also didn’t test ones that I needed to pay upfront for.

I hope this was helpful! If you have any recommendations for other apps or pointers on reading/deciphering cursive, please share them. I’m always looking for new tips or tricks