How to Adjust Kerning for Better Readability

Typography is an essential element of design that profoundly affects how readers interact with and interpret text. Among the many facets of typography, kerning stands out as a subtle yet powerful tool to enhance readability. Proper kerning — the adjustment of space between individual letter pairs — can make your text look polished, professional, and easier to read. Conversely, poor kerning can cause visual discomfort, misinterpretation, and a generally unappealing appearance.

In this article, we will explore what kerning is, why it matters, and how to adjust kerning effectively to improve the readability of your text.

What Is Kerning?

Kerning refers to the process of adjusting the spacing between specific pairs of letters to achieve a visually pleasing and balanced appearance. It is different from tracking, which adjusts spacing uniformly over a range of characters.

For example, consider the letter pair “A” and “V.” If left unadjusted, the natural shapes of these letters create an awkward gap because both have angled strokes that taper inward. Kerning helps by reducing or increasing space to make such pairs fit harmoniously.

Kerning is particularly important in display fonts, headlines, logos, or any text where letter proximity affects aesthetics. However, it also plays a crucial role in body text because even subtle spacing issues can impact reading speed and comprehension.

Why Kerning Matters for Readability

Visual Harmony

Kerning creates a balanced “color” or texture on the page by ensuring that gaps between letters are consistent visually. Uneven spacing causes distractions and draws unwanted attention to those areas instead of allowing readers to focus on the message.

Legibility Improvement

Poorly kerned text can cause letters to appear cramped or too far apart. Cramped text might cause letters to blend together or seem like different characters entirely (e.g., “rn” looking like “m”), while too much space can break words apart unnaturally. Both situations impair legibility and slow down reading.

Enhancing Reader Comfort

Humans read by pattern recognition; our brains anticipate common letter shapes and spacing. Correct kerning aids this cognitive process by making word shapes predictable and smooth to scan. This reduces eye strain during prolonged reading.

Professional Appearance

Well-kerned typography conveys professionalism and care in design. It signals that you have paid attention to detail, which builds trust with your audience.

Signs That Your Text Needs Kerning Adjustment

• Letters seem either too tightly packed or spaced too far apart.
• Specific letter pairs look awkward or jarring.
• The overall word spacing feels inconsistent.
• You notice frequent reader complaints about difficult-to-read text.
• The design looks amateurish or unfinished despite good typeface choice.

How to Adjust Kerning for Better Readability

1. Understand Your Typeface’s Characteristics

Every font has its own built-in kerning pairs and spacing rules designed by type designers. Before making adjustments:

• Study your font closely.
• Identify problematic letter pairs (especially those with diagonal strokes like AV, WA).
• Observe how the font behaves at different sizes because kerning needs may vary from display sizes to body copy.

2. Use Appropriate Tools

Modern design software offers precise controls for kerning:

• Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator/InDesign: Select the text and use shortcut keys (Alt + Left/Right Arrow on Windows; Option + Left/Right Arrow on Mac) or manually adjust kerning values in the Character panel.
• Sketch/Figma: These interface tools have kerning settings accessible per character.
• CSS: For web texts, CSS property letter-spacing controls tracking more broadly but does not allow pair-specific kerning yet; however, some fonts built with OpenType features support kerning natively in browsers.

Using professional tools ensures your kerning changes are accurate and reproducible.

3. Start With Problematic Letter Pairs

Focus on adjusting only pairs that look visually unbalanced rather than applying uniform changes across all characters.

Common pairs to watch include:

• AV, AW, AY
• VA, WA
• To, To
• Yo
• Ly
• Tr

Adjust these pairs until the gap appears optically even with other letters surrounding them.

4. Work at the Correct Size and Context

Kerning should be checked at the final size where your text will appear:

• Display/text in large headlines may require more significant adjustments.
• Body copy benefits from subtle changes since large spacing shifts disrupt reading flow.

Always test readability on actual devices/screens rather than zoomed views.

5. Avoid Over-Kerning

Too tight kerning causes letters to collide or merge visually (e.g., “ff” or “cl” becoming ambiguous). This harms legibility more than slight looseness.

Balance is key — use incremental adjustments rather than extreme shifts.

6. Combine Kerning With Other Spacing Adjustments

Kerning works alongside tracking (letter-spacing) and leading (line-spacing):

• Fix problematic pairs first using kerning.
• Use tracking for uniform tightening or loosening across whole words or paragraphs.
• Adjust leading if lines feel congested or too spread out vertically.

Together these controls optimize overall readability.

7. Test With Real Content

Always review your kerned text with actual content rather than dummy text like Lorem Ipsum. Genuine words reveal natural letter combinations that may pose unique challenges.

Ask peers or target users for feedback on readability improvements after kerning adjustments.

Practical Tips for Effective Kerning

• Zoom in closely when adjusting but always check at normal reading size afterward.
• Trust your eyes; avoid relying solely on numeric values.
• Compare before-and-after versions side by side.
• Use grids or guides if available to keep spacing consistent across lines.
• Remember cultural/linguistic differences: some languages require different spacing norms.

Automated Kerning vs Manual Adjustment

Modern fonts often include built-in kerning tables that automatically adjust letter pairs via OpenType features enabled in most design apps. While helpful as a baseline:

• Auto kerning may still produce awkward spaces depending on your layout or text length.
• Manual tweaks allow you to tailor adjustments precisely for your context.

A combination of both approaches usually produces the best results: trust automatic kerning but refine critical headline text manually.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Adjusting Kerning

1. Ignoring Font Design: Applying generic spacing changes without understanding font style leads to unnatural results.
2. Over-kern: Excessively reduced spaces make words look cramped or merge letters.
3. Uniform Changes Only: Skipping pair-specific adjustments reduces effectiveness dramatically.
4. Neglecting Context: Text looks different in print versus screen; always preview accordingly.
5. Not Testing Readability: Failing to verify that improved spacing actually aids reader comprehension.

Conclusion

Kerning is a nuanced but vital part of typography that directly impacts readability and aesthetic appeal. Thoughtful adjustment of spacing between individual letter pairs improves visual harmony, enhances legibility, reduces eye strain, and elevates design professionalism.

By understanding your font’s characteristics, using proper tools, focusing on tricky letter pairs, working at correct sizes, balancing adjustments carefully, testing thoroughly with real content, and avoiding common pitfalls, you can master kerning to create beautifully readable designs.

Whether you are a graphic designer crafting branding materials or a web developer designing user interfaces, integrating careful kerning into your workflow will significantly improve how audiences experience your textual content. Practice regularly and develop an eye for optical balance — it’s an investment that pays off in every word you present!