How can i add a "field" for handwritten text?

Question

I need to add a bunch of fields for a handwritten text to my document that look like this:

Your Name ___________
Your Age  ___________

As an example, I can show you the form that I have to reproduce:

As you can see, in the top and in the middle we have such fields.

Sure I've thought about _ symbol, but I think that typing ______ all the way is not the TeX style.

Answer 1

For my exams, I use:

  \begin{center}Name: \line(1,0){275} \end{center}

It's simple. (That said, I will look at the package that @lockstep mentioned.)

Answer 2

Have a look at the dashundergaps package. Package description:

The pack­age pro­vides com­mands (\un­der­line, \dotu­line and \dashu­line) each of which under­lines its ar­gu­ment with one of the styles the pack­age is ca­pa­ble of. A phan­tom mode is pro­vided, where the un­der­line (of what­ever form) can serve for a ‘fill-in block’ for stu­dent eval­u­a­tion sheets.

Answer 3

One thing to keep in mind is that you will likely want something that allows you to specify the width of the full field (including label) for alignment purposes. morbusg's solution works this way as do my solutions:

% GENERAL USAGE: \COMMAND[width]{text}
\def\entrywithlabel[#1]#2{\parbox{#1}{{\small #2:} \hrulefill}}
\def\entrywithlabelunder[#1]#2{\parbox{#1}{\hrulefill\\[-.75ex]\centerline {#2}}}
\def\entrywithlabelraised[#1]#2{\parbox{#1}{\smash{\raise-1ex\hbox{{\tiny #2}}}\hrulefill}}
\def\boxentry[#1]#2{{\setlength{\fboxsep}{-\fboxrule}\fbox{\parbox{#1}{\smash{\raise-6.5pt\hbox{~{\tiny #2}}}\vspace{2ex}\mbox{}}}}}
\def\boxpar[#1]#2#3{{\setlength{\fboxsep}{-\fboxrule}\fbox{\parbox[][#2][t]{#1}{\mbox{}\\[-.125\baselineskip]\mbox{}~#3}}}}

I also like to use a \dynTable command for automatically generating blank table rows:

% Usage: \dynTable{\begin{tabular}{tablespec}}{# repetitions}{rows}{\end{tabular}}
\makeatletter
\newcommand*{\InitToks}{\toks@={}}
\newcommand{\AddToks}[1]{\toks@=\expandafter{\the\toks@ #1}}
\newcommand*{\PrintToks}{\the\toks@}

\newcount\rowNo
\newcommand*{\dynTable}[4]{%
  \begingroup
    \InitToks\AddToks{#1}%
    \rowNo=0 %
    \loop\ifnum\rowNo<#2\relax\advance\rowNo by 1
      \expandafter\AddToks\expandafter{#3}%
    \repeat
   \AddToks{#4}\PrintToks
  \endgroup}
\makeatother

A sample end-of-month allocation worksheet:

\documentclass[11pt,letterpaper]{article}
\usepackage[centering,width=7.5in,height=9.5in]{geometry}
\usepackage[parfill]{parskip}
\pagestyle{empty}

% GENERAL USAGE: \COMMAND[width]{text}
\def\entrywithlabel[#1]#2{\parbox{#1}{{\small #2:} \hrulefill}}
\def\entrywithlabelunder[#1]#2{\parbox{#1}{\hrulefill\\[-.75ex]\centerline {#2}}}
\def\entrywithlabelraised[#1]#2{\parbox{#1}{\smash{\raise-1ex\hbox{{\tiny #2}}}\hrulefill}}
\def\boxentry[#1]#2{{\setlength{\fboxsep}{-\fboxrule}\fbox{\parbox{#1}{\smash{\raise-6.5pt\hbox{~{\tiny #2}}}\vspace{2ex}\mbox{}}}}}
\def\boxpar[#1]#2#3{{\setlength{\fboxsep}{-\fboxrule}\fbox{\parbox[][#2][t]{#1}{\mbox{}\\[-.125\baselineskip]\mbox{}~#3}}}}

% Usage: \dynTable{\begin{tabular}{tablespec}}{# repetitions}{rows}{\end{tabular}}
\makeatletter
\newcommand*{\InitToks}{\toks@={}}
\newcommand{\AddToks}[1]{\toks@=\expandafter{\the\toks@ #1}}
\newcommand*{\PrintToks}{\the\toks@}

\newcount\rowNo
\newcommand*{\dynTable}[4]{%
  \begingroup
    \InitToks\AddToks{#1}%
    \rowNo=0 %
    \loop\ifnum\rowNo<#2\relax\advance\rowNo by 1
      \expandafter\AddToks\expandafter{#3}%
    \repeat
   \AddToks{#4}\PrintToks
  \endgroup}
\makeatother

\begin{document}

\entrywithlabel[.45\hsize]{Month}\hfill \entrywithlabel[.45\hsize]{Year}    \entrywithlabel[.45\hsize]{Submitter}\hfill  \entrywithlabel[.45\hsize]{Date}    \begin{center}
  \def\h#1{\multicolumn{1}{c|}{\bfseries #1}}
  \def\H#1{\multicolumn{1}{|c|}{\bfseries #1}}
  \def\arraystretch{1.5}
  \dynTable{%
\begin{tabular}{@{}|@{}p{3in}@{}|@{}p{.75in}@{}|@{}p{.75in}@{}|@{}p{3in}@{}|@{}}\hline
\H{Account} & \h{Debit} & \h{Credit} & \h{Project}\\\hline\hline
}{25}{ &&&\\\cline{2-4} }{&&&\\\hline\end{tabular}}
\end{center}

\end{document}

A fancier performance report that uses boxentry and entrywithlabelunder

\documentclass[11pt,letterpaper]{article}
\usepackage[centering,width=7in,height=10in]{geometry}
\usepackage[parfill]{parskip}
\usepackage{array,tabularx}
\renewcommand{\title}[2][]{\begin{center}\sffamily\bfseries\Large #2\ifx\relax#1\else\\\normalsize #1\fi\end{center}\vspace{1ex}}
\pagestyle{empty}

% GENERAL USAGE: \COMMAND[width]{text}
\def\entrywithlabel[#1]#2{\parbox{#1}{{\small #2:} \hrulefill}}
\def\entrywithlabelunder[#1]#2{\parbox{#1}{\hrulefill\\[-.75ex]\centerline {{\small #2}}}}
\def\entrywithlabelraised[#1]#2{\parbox{#1}{\smash{\raise-1ex\hbox{{\tiny #2}}}\hrulefill}}
\def\boxentry[#1]#2{{\setlength{\fboxsep}{-\fboxrule}\fbox{\parbox{#1}{\smash{\raise-6.5pt\hbox{~{\tiny #2}}}\vspace{2ex}\mbox{}}}}}
\def\boxpar[#1]#2#3{{\setlength{\fboxsep}{-\fboxrule}\fbox{\parbox[][#2][t]{#1}{\mbox{}\\[-.125\baselineskip]\mbox{}~#3}}}}
\begin{document}

\title{Performance Report}

\boxentry[.5\hsize]{Employee Name}\boxentry[.5\hsize]{Job Title}\\[-1.5pt]
\boxentry[.5\hsize]{Salary}\boxentry[.5\hsize]{Date Hired}\\[-1.5pt]
\boxentry[.5\hsize]{Reviewer Name}\boxentry[.5\hsize]{Date of Review}

{ \setlength{\extrarowheight}{-3pt}
  \def\arraystretch{3}
  \def\row#1{#1&&\\\hline}
  \begin{tabularx}{\hsize}{|l|c|X|}\hline
    \multicolumn{1}{|c|}{\textbf{Category}} & \textbf{Grade} & \mbox{}\hfill\textbf{Comments}\hfill\mbox{}\\\hline
    \row{Attendance/Punctuality}
    \row{Work Attitude}
    \row{Mathematical Quality}
    \row{Independence}
    \row{Pedagogical Skill}
    \row{Interpersonal Skill}
  \end{tabularx}
}

\boxpar[\hsize]{2in}{Reviewer Summary {\small (provide attachments if additional details required)}:}\\[-1.5pt]
\boxpar[\hsize]{2in}{Goals:}

\vfill

\entrywithlabelunder[.45\hsize]{Employee Signature}\hfill\entrywithlabelunder[.45\hsize]{Reviewer Signature}\\[-\baselineskip]

\end{document}

Answer 4

I often use a box, instead of an underlined region, because boxes are more visible, and so people tend to notice them and fill them in.

I just insert something along the lines of \fbox{\phantom{first-name}}.

The \fbox{} makes a framed box around whatever is inside the braces.

The \phantom{} puts space on the page for the indicated text, but does not actually write it. (To save typing, I often put XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX or something of that sort, inside the \phantom.)

Answer 5

Something similar I used a while back:

\long\def\question#1\par{\bigskip\vbox{#1\par
  \hbox to\hsize{\hrulefill}\par
  \hbox to\hsize{\hrulefill}}\bigskip}
\def\info#1\par{#1\hrulefill\hss\par}
\everypar={\setbox0=\lastbox}
\baselineskip=15pt
\hsize=.5\hsize
\info Your Name

\info Your Age

\question Something very lengthy about you

\bye