Which typographic term describes adjusting the space between two specific characters to improve optical alignment?

Which typographic term describes adjusting the space between two specific characters to improve optical alignment?

• A. Kerning
• B. Tracking
• C. Leading
• D. Horizontal scaling

Answer: (A)

Kerning is the typographic adjustment of space between two specific characters to achieve optical alignment. Some letter pairs create visually uneven gaps when placed together, so kerning tightens or loosens that pair just enough to make the word look balanced and evenly spaced, improving readability. This differs from tracking, which changes the spacing for a range of characters or an entire word uniformly. Leading refers to vertical space between lines of text, not within a line. Horizontal scaling changes the width of characters as a group, which can distort letter shapes rather than fine-tuning the space between two characters. For example, you might kern the space between A and V in a word to remove a noticeable gap, while you wouldn’t apply the same adjustment to every letter in the word as tracking would.

Kerning is the typographic adjustment of space between two specific characters to achieve optical alignment. Some letter pairs create visually uneven gaps when placed together, so kerning tightens or loosens that pair just enough to make the word look balanced and evenly spaced, improving readability. This differs from tracking, which changes the spacing for a range of characters or an entire word uniformly. Leading refers to vertical space between lines of text, not within a line. Horizontal scaling changes the width of characters as a group, which can distort letter shapes rather than fine-tuning the space between two characters. For example, you might kern the space between A and V in a word to remove a noticeable gap, while you wouldn’t apply the same adjustment to every letter in the word as tracking would.