Graphic designLesson 2 of 2 in the course Typography

Kerning: Principles, Digital Values, and Typesetting

5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 5 match pairs · 5 fill-in sentences · English

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Summary

Kerning helps text look balanced by adjusting the space between particular characters. This lesson introduces the purpose of kerning, distinguishes it from tracking, and explains how the term developed in metal typesetting.

Kerning is the adjustment of space between two specific characters, or letterforms, in a font. The goal is not necessarily to make every gap mathematically equal. Instead, a well-kerned line gives the blank spaces between neighboring characters a visually similar area.

All flashcards

What is kerning?
Kerning is the adjustment of spacing between two specific characters to improve their visual balance.
What is tracking?
Tracking is a uniform spacing adjustment applied across a range of characters, rather than to one specific pair.
Why can equal measured gaps look uneven?
Character outlines differ. Diagonals, curves, and open forms create different-looking blank areas even when the measured gaps are equal.
What did “kern” mean in metal type?
A kern was a part of a cast letter that projected beyond the edge of its type block to overlap an adjacent letter.
What is a ligature?
A ligature is a single piece of type representing a joined glyph combination, such as fi, fl, ffi, or ffl.

Quiz questions

  1. How does metric kerning determine spacing between characters?Answer: It uses kerning values stored in the font.
  2. What does contextual kerning consider that ordinary pair kerning does not?Answer: A larger sequence of glyphs, including characters before or after the pair.
  3. How can OpenType GPOS glyph classes reduce repetitive kerning data?Answer: They apply one adjustment to pairs formed by two character classes.
  4. Why do monospaced fonts generally avoid kerning?Answer: Their characters are designed to occupy consistent-width cells.
  5. What is the role of CSS letter-spacing in relation to kerning?Answer: It changes spacing across text and can affect perceived kerning.

Based on the Wikipedia article Kerning, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.

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