Customisation Guide · 5 min read
The single biggest factor in making digital handwriting look real is the right combination of font and ink colour. This guide shows you exactly which settings to use and why they work.
Penwork gives you full control over every visual aspect of your handwritten pages — ink colour, line colour, margin colour, paper background, font, font size, letter spacing, word spacing, and even ink width. Getting these settings right is what separates a convincing handwritten page from one that looks generated.
This guide covers the most impactful settings: which fonts look most natural, which ink colours are most convincing, and how the colour settings interact with each other.
Pure black (#000000) looks too digital. Real pen ink has a slight tint — warm, cool, or slightly brown depending on the pen brand. These are the best ink colours for realistic results:
#1a1a2eThe most convincing ballpoint pen colour. Warm dark navy that looks like Pilot or Parker ink on paper. Ideal for formal assignments.
Best for: Essays, formal assignments#0d1b2aSlightly cooler than navy. Mimics the look of a fresh gel pen — rich, dark, with a faint blue tone.
Best for: Study notes, exam prep#1a3a8fThe quintessential school notebook colour. Matches standard ballpoint pen blue perfectly.
Best for: School homework, teacher marking#2b2b3bSofter than pure black. Looks like a good-quality mechanical pencil or a slightly faded pen.
Best for: General notes, science subjects#1a6b3aTraditional teacher annotation colour. Also works for biology and geography notes that need a natural feel.
Best for: Teacher corrections, biology notes#6b2020Strong, warm red that looks like a marking pen or emphasis annotation. Ideal for headers and highlighted sections.
Best for: Corrections, important headingsPenwork has 20+ handwriting fonts in three categories. The group you choose depends on your goal — maximum realism, maximum legibility, or maximum personality:
Best for assignments where realism is critical. These fonts have irregular baselines, varied letter heights, and natural connection strokes that closely mimic human handwriting.
Friendly, readable fonts that look handwritten while remaining highly legible. Perfect for study notes where clarity matters as much as appearance.
Expressive, distinctive fonts with a strong visual personality. Best for headings, cover pages, and creative projects rather than body text in formal assignments.
Font size: 18–22px
This range mimics the natural size of handwriting on A4 ruled paper. Go larger (24–28px) for young-student or primary-school-style notes. Smaller sizes (14–16px) suit annotated diagrams or dense technical notes.
Word spacing: 1–3px
Adding 1–3 pixels of extra word spacing prevents words from running together and gives the text a more naturally spaced feel. Avoid large values (>6px) which make the text look artificially wide.
Letter spacing: 0–1px
A tiny positive letter spacing (0.5–1px) opens up the text slightly and mimics the slight separation between characters in real handwriting. Negative letter spacing can make the text look cramped.
Ink width: 0.8–1.2×
Controls how bold the strokes appear. 1.0× matches the font's natural weight. Values below 1.0 give a lighter, finer pen effect. Values above 1.2 simulate a thicker nib or felt-tip pen.
Avoid pure black (#000000) — it looks too digital. Use dark navy-black shades like #1a1a2e or #2b2b3b. These mimic the warm, slightly tinted ink of a real ballpoint or fountain pen. For school blue ink, use #1a3a8f.
For A4 pages with ruled lines, font sizes between 18–24px work best. Size 20px is the most realistic for standard assignment notes. Larger sizes (24–28px) work better for science or maths notes with equations. Avoid going below 16px as the text becomes hard to read.
Open the Colors section in the settings panel. Use the "Line color" swatch to change the ruled line colour. Pale blue-grey (#c4d4e4) is the most realistic for standard exercise books. You can also use pale green (#c4e4d4) or cream (#e8dcc8) for different notebook styles.
Yes. In the Page Header section, there is a separate "Header font" selector. You can choose one font for the header (e.g., Dancing Script for a stylish title) and a different font for the body text (e.g., Kalam for natural notes).
Yes. All colour and font changes update the live preview panel instantly — you can see exactly how your handwritten page will look before downloading.
The paper colour sets the background of each page. The default is a warm cream gradient that mimics notebook paper. You can set a specific hex colour for a cleaner white (#ffffff), tinted paper, or even a coloured background. Leave it empty to use the default cream gradient.
Try these settings in Penwork
All colour and font settings update the live preview instantly. Open Penwork, experiment, and download a perfect handwritten PDF — free, no signup.