🔤 Letter spacing 🔤 To space letters

to kerning

7.2

To change the space between letters to make text easier to read

verb
/ˈkɜrnɪŋ/

Specialized

: interletrar

The designer spent hours kerning the title to make it look perfect on the poster.

Examples

You should kern the letters for better readability.
In her graphic design class, she is learning how to kern effectively.
Careful kerning can make a big difference in the readability of a logo.
She is learning how to use software tools for kerning in her graphic design class.
The designer kerned the text carefully.
The designer spent hours kerning the title to make it look perfect on the poster.
You should kern the letters for better readability in your project.

Synonyms

to kern

vsto kerning

Specialized

9.9

To change the space between letters so text looks more even

focuses on improving appearance and readability rather than technical typography

Surface Forms

kerning infinitive

kerned past

kerned past participle

kernning present participle

kern third person singular

Morphology

kerning = kern (transparent) = kern + ing

Present-participle formation from the verb 'kern' with the usual '-ing' suffix; the verb form meaning follows directly.

Etymology

Kerning (verb) comes from the same old printers' action of moving or shaving the bit of a metal letter that 'stuck out' so letters fit together better. That's why to kern letters now means to carefully adjust the space between characters so text looks balanced.