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Read old handwriting

A civil act is readable when you can defend three things against the page: the name, the date, and the parents (paternità and maternità). Clerks wrote what they heard, so a sibling’s act in the same register is often the check on a doubtful letter. In Atto you type what you see under Documents → What does this say? Printed English screenshots can use on-device Read screenshot OCR on Mac and Windows. For Italian handwriting, the supported path is your own reading. A practice draft can walk you through Approve so you learn the habit before a real act. The fact enters the tree when you accept it there.

Video

Walkthrough script: guides/SCRIPTS.md → read-handwriting.

What to do today

  • Drop or keep the photo under Documents.
  • Open What does this say? and type Name / Town / Year (or Fill from your Home note).
  • Save → Find → open FamilySearch / Antenati yourself.

You do not need a handwriting draft for Find links or the citizenship checklist. Prefer typing; it is the supported path in current kits.

Practice draft (optional)

Only if you want to try the Approve loop with a mock draft:

  1. Open your project → Find → Read old handwriting (practice).
  2. Choose a clear JPG or PNG.
  3. Under Who is this record about?, pick someone already on your tree.
  4. Click Run practice draft. You get a placeholder transcript to compare with the image, so you can learn the Approve habit.
  5. Open Approve only to learn the habit; reject freely. For real genealogy, trust what you typed under Documents.

Photo tips

  • Fill the frame with the act text; crop busy margins if you can.
  • Even light — avoid glare on plastic sleeves and deep shadows.
  • One page at a time beats a whole book in one blurry shot.
  • Keep the original image in your vault Documents or raw folder; the draft is a suggestion, not a replacement for the scan.

What the kit does today

Today the kit asks you to read the Italian hand and type it. Printed English can use the on-device OCR already in the app. The practice draft is a teaching transcript: you hold it next to the scan, correct the letters, and send a suggestion to Approve. A live handwriting add-on may come later. Until then, the reading you trust is the one you checked against the image.

Your scans stay in the vault on this computer. A damaged name remains a suggestion beside the page until you Approve the spelling the act actually supports.

If Approve stays empty

  • You skipped the person picker — choose who the act is about and run again.
  • Your tree has no people yet — import a GEDCOM or approve another find first.
  • You rejected the draft — that is fine; try a clearer photo or type what you can into Documents.

Still stuck? Support — in the app use Home → Advanced → Copy report for support. Never email certificates or full license.json.

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