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| Kerning and Tracking |
Kerning and Tracking
Kerning refers to the spacing between two individual characters within a word.
Tracking refers to the spacing between words.
Some typefaces are not designed to be kerned or tracked too loosely and vice versa. If one kerns or tracks too tightly or too loosely, they risk sacrificing readability and legibility.
When deciding how tight or loose to kern or track your text, it is advisable to first consider the scale at which the text will be interacted with. If it is to be printed, how far away from the printed text will the viewer be? Will they be driving by? Will it be on read on a backlit screen?
One should also consider the positive and negative ground when tracking and kerning. Tracking too tightly or too loosely can result in awkward figure/ground relations that will distract the user.