Spacing Is Part Of The Letter
When you look at a line of text, you tend to notice the letters. What shapes the impression just as much is the space between them. Too tight and letters collide into blobs; too loose and words break into separate pieces. Fonts come with built-in spacing designed to work reasonably well in most cases, but there are many situations where adjusting it improves the result.
Three terms describe the adjustments, and people often mix them up: letter spacing, tracking and kerning.
Definitions
Letter spacing is the general term for the space between characters. In many design tools and in web styling, it is a single setting that adds or removes the same space between all characters in a selection.
Tracking is that same uniform adjustment, applied across a range of text. Tightening or loosening tracking changes the overall density of a line or paragraph. In practice, tracking and letter spacing refer to the same action.
Kerning is different. It is the adjustment of the space between one specific pair of letters. Some combinations of shapes leave awkward gaps. Think of a capital A next to a capital V, where the diagonal strokes create a large open space, or a capital T followed by a lowercase o. Kerning pulls these particular pairs closer so that the visual space looks even.
A simple way to remember it: tracking changes the whole group, while kerning fixes individual pairs.
Built-In Kerning
Most well-made fonts contain kerning information for common pairs, and software applies it automatically. This usually produces good results for body text. Problems tend to show up when:
- text is set very large, because small flaws become easy to see
- the font is free or poorly made and its kerning is incomplete
- letters from different styles are combined, such as a capital in one font and lowercase in another
- you set a logo or wordmark, where each pair matters
Automatic kerning is a good default, so it generally should stay on. Manual adjustments are for exceptions.
How To Judge Spacing
Spacing is optical, not mathematical. Equal distances between letter edges do not look equal, because round letters, straight letters and diagonals leave different amounts of empty area. What matters is the visual rhythm: the gaps should look even to the eye.
Some practical checks:
- Squint or blur. Look at the text with your eyes half-closed or step back. Uneven gaps appear as lighter or darker patches.
- Read the letter pairs, not the words. Focus on the spaces and ask which ones seem too open or too tight.
- Turn it upside down. Flipping the text stops you from reading it, and it becomes easier to see the shapes and gaps.
- Check key pairs. Look at combinations with diagonals, round letters beside straight ones and punctuation next to letters.
- View at actual size. Spacing that looks right on a large screen may feel different at final size.
When To Adjust Tracking
Tracking changes are most useful in a few situations.
Large headlines. Display sizes often benefit from slightly tighter tracking, since built-in spacing is designed with smaller text in mind. A small reduction can make a headline feel more compact and deliberate. The effect is subtle. If it becomes obvious that the letters are touching, you have gone too far.
All capitals. Capital letters were designed to begin sentences and names, not to run together in long strings. Words set in all caps typically look better with a little extra space. This applies to small caps and to short labels, such as headings or navigation text.
Small text. At very small sizes, a little extra tracking can help letters stay distinct, particularly on screens. Do not overdo it, since too much looseness breaks up word shapes.
Body text. Usually leave it alone. Changing tracking on long passages can reduce readability, especially when combined with a tightly set line. If a paragraph looks too dense or too airy, it is often better to look at line spacing and the typeface choice before touching tracking. Justified text may need small tracking tweaks to even out gaps, but the effect should be barely noticeable.
Lowercase words. Be especially cautious with spacing out lowercase letters. Letterspacing lowercase text is generally considered a poor practice for ordinary reading, since it disrupts the familiar shape of words.
When To Kern By Hand
Hand kerning pays off where a small number of letters are on display and need to look right:
- logos and wordmarks, especially lettermark logos and any logo type that uses text
- large titles on posters, covers or social graphics
- combinations that auto kerning handles poorly, such as numbers, symbols or mixed styles
The process is straightforward. Set the text, find the pair that looks wrong, and adjust it in small increments. Then move on and check the neighboring pairs, because changing one gap can make another look off. A thorough approach is to work from the pair with the worst problem to the best, then re-check the whole word.
Words And Lines As Shapes
Spacing between letters interacts with the space between words. If you tighten tracking considerably, word spaces can look too wide by comparison. If you loosen it, words may seem to run together. Balanced spacing treats letters, words and lines as one system. This is closely related to how designers think about alignment and proximity in layout: elements that are closer together read as a group.
Mistakes To Avoid
- Fixing a font problem with tracking. If a typeface looks wrong at every setting, a different face may be better.
- Overcorrecting. Spacing changes should be hardly visible. If viewers notice them, they are likely too strong.
- Applying one adjustment everywhere. Headlines, labels and body text have different needs.
- Ignoring rendering. On screens, text can be positioned slightly differently depending on the platform, so check the real display. Screen typography explains more.
Takeaway
Tracking changes the density of text as a whole, and kerning corrects specific pairs. Trust the built-in spacing for body text, tighten large headlines a little, loosen capitals a little and kern logos and big titles by hand. Judge with your eyes instead of numbers, and make small changes.