What is kerning used for?

Table of Contents

Kerning is the spacing between individual letters or characters. Unlike tracking, which adjusts the amount of space between the letters of an entire word in equal increments, kerning is focused on how type looks — creating readable text that’s visually pleasing.

How do you do tracking and kerning in Photoshop?

Adjust kerning manually

In the Character panel or the Control panel, type or select a numeric value in the Kerning menu.
Press Alt+Left/Right Arrow (Windows) or Option+Left/Right Arrow (Mac OS) to decrease or increase the kerning between two characters.

What is leading and kerning?

Both kerning and leading manipulate the spacing in a segment of text. Leading addresses the vertical gaps between lines of text – often crucial in the creation of magazine articles, blog pages, and other pieces of written work. Kerning deals with the space between two characters or letters.

How do I fix the spacing between letters in Photoshop?

To adjust kerning in Photoshop, select the Type Tool (T) and click between the two characters you want to edit. Next, use the keyboard shortcut Alt + Left/Right Arrow Keys (PC) or Option + Left/Right Arrow Keys (Mac) to space apart the characters on either side of your cursor.

What kerning should I use?

One way to gauge the proper kerning for letters is to see the distance between 2 straight letters as 1 unit, the distance between straight and round letters as slightly less than 1 unit, and the distance between two round letters as even more slightly less than 1 unit.

What is Photoshop tracking?

Tracking involves adjusting the spacing throughout the entire word. Once you’ve determined the right spacing between each letter, tracking can be used, with great restraint, to change the spacing equally between every letter at once.

What are the different ways of kerning?

There are three types of kerning:

Metrics kerning uses kern pairs, which are included with most fonts. Kern pairs contain information about the spacing of specific pairs of letters.
Optical kerning adjusts the spacing between adjacent characters based on their shapes.
Manual is a pretty self explanatory type of kerning.

How do you kern in design space?

How it works

Select the Text tool or an existing text box, then select the font drop-down.
By default, the font list is filtered by fonts with kerning. Browse or search to find a font and select it. Your kerned text will render on the Canvas.
That’s it!