Basics of typography kerning
- 2. Anatomy of Type Historic Families of Type and Classification Type / Typeface / Font / Families of Type Studying a Typeface Kerning, Leading, Tracking, Measuring Type
- 3. A designer measures type as well as the spatial intervals between typographic elements. These intervals occur between letters, between words, and between two lines of type The spatial interval between letters is called letterspacing Adjusting the letterspacing is called kerning The spatial interval between words is word spacing The spatial interval between two lines of type is line spacing, traditionally called leading in metal type, where strips of lead of varying thickness (measured in points) were used to increase the space between lines of type
- 4. Kerning Kerning adjusts the distance between two letters. Set too closely together, words are indecipherable; set too far apart, and they're awkward to read.
- 7. How to Adjust Kerning in Adobe Illustrator / Photoshop Open the character palette located under Window and then Character Change the number in the Kerning field. The Kerning field is below the type size. Don’t forget to highlight the text you want to change before adjusting it
- 21. Leading Leading is an essential design aspect that determines how text is spaced vertically in lines. Leading refers to the distance between the baselines of successive lines of type You'll want to make sure the distance from the bottom of the words above to the top of the words below has appropriate spacing to make them legible.
- 23. How to Adjust Leading in Adobe Illustrator / Photoshop Open the character palette located under Window and then Character Change the number in the leading field. The leading field is next to the type size. Don’t forget to highlight the text you want to change before adjusting it
- 29. Tracking Tracking is often confused for kerning, but the concept is a little different. Tracking involves adjusting the spacing throughout the entire word.
- 30. Tracking 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. You should be very careful when changing the tracking, as it can quickly lead to difficulty in reading.
- 31. How to Adjust Tracking in Adobe Illustrator / Photoshop Open the character palette located under Window and then Character Change the number in the Tracking field. The Tracking field is below the kerning field. Don’t forget to highlight the text you want to change before adjusting it
- 35. Measuring Type The traditional system of typographic measurement utilizes two basic units: the point and the pica. The height of type is measured in points The width of a letter or a line of type is measured in picas
- 36. Measuring Type Most type is available in sizes ranging from 5 points to 72 points Type that is 14 points and less is used for setting text and is called text type or body copy. Sizes above 14 points are used for display type.
- 37. Measuring Type
- 38. Measuring Type In metal type, letterspacing and word spacing are produced by the insertion of quads -a metal block shorter than the type height—between pieces of metal type. Both traditionally and today, an “em” is used as a unit of measure.
- 40. Measuring Type Originally the em was a unit of measurement roughly equivalent to the width of the capital M in a given typeface at a specific point size. Now the em is usually sized to be equivalent to the point size of a given font. For 12 point type, a 2-em indent would be 24 points — 2 x 12. One half of an em is called an “en.”
- 41. Measuring Type