How do I kern?
October 13, 2005 9:47 AM Subscribe
I need help understanding the concept of kerning fonts. Is there a formula to it, or is it really what looks "best"?
I've read a few things on the web about it, including Wikipedia's entry on the subject. But when I try kerning, it just seems arbitrary. Is that just the nature of the process? As an example, would it be safe to say that this is not kerned well and the V and A should be closer; perhaps actually overlapping? (Finding this image is what got me thinking about my own lack of kerning skills and hence the question.)
I've read a few things on the web about it, including Wikipedia's entry on the subject. But when I try kerning, it just seems arbitrary. Is that just the nature of the process? As an example, would it be safe to say that this is not kerned well and the V and A should be closer; perhaps actually overlapping? (Finding this image is what got me thinking about my own lack of kerning skills and hence the question.)
Wikipedia nails it pretty well... but in the end, kerning is best left to the human eye.
When I kern a particularly difficult word, I'll sometimes turn the text upside down and kern that way... which helps me ignore the "word" and see the letterforms.
posted by silusGROK at 9:58 AM on October 13, 2005
When I kern a particularly difficult word, I'll sometimes turn the text upside down and kern that way... which helps me ignore the "word" and see the letterforms.
posted by silusGROK at 9:58 AM on October 13, 2005
It's not completely arbitrary because certain combination of letters by design need more kerning than others (like the AV example you linked to). Your goal in kerning is to make the whitespace between each consecutive letter relatively the same size. It would be safe to say that that image you supplied is not kerned well, and the V and A should be closer, close enough so that the whitespace between them roughly matches the whitespace between the other letters in the font.
posted by escher at 10:02 AM on October 13, 2005
posted by escher at 10:02 AM on October 13, 2005
Don't even worry about whitespace, you just want to focus on keeping your eye to move smoothly over the letters without a visual "hiccup". My kerning trick is to close one eye and look at letters in groups of three, even those out optically, then move one letter over and adjust another group of three. Its far easier than trying to tackle a big word all at once...
posted by lovejones at 10:11 AM on October 13, 2005
posted by lovejones at 10:11 AM on October 13, 2005
This kerning test (flash) might be helpful, or at least help you get a better grip on the fundamentals..
posted by ScottUltra at 10:35 AM on October 13, 2005
posted by ScottUltra at 10:35 AM on October 13, 2005
When I kern a particularly difficult word, I'll sometimes turn the text upside down and kern that way... which helps me ignore the "word" and see the letterforms.
cool tip! Thanks!
posted by fishfucker at 10:41 AM on October 13, 2005
cool tip! Thanks!
posted by fishfucker at 10:41 AM on October 13, 2005
ScottUltra, does it just loop "Try Again" or what because I matched it to the fucking pixel and I am very frustrated.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 11:46 AM on October 13, 2005
posted by Optimus Chyme at 11:46 AM on October 13, 2005
posted by Optimus Chyme at 11:52 AM on October 13, 2005
ScottUltra, does it just loop "Try Again" or what because I matched it to the fucking pixel and I am very frustrated.
yeah, it just loops it.
or perhaps you keep looping your kerning failures.
one of the two, but I suspect the first, because it did the same to me (matched it on the first try. BOO YA PRODUCTION MANAGER HERE I COME SOMEONE GET ME MY LOUPE)
posted by fishfucker at 12:07 PM on October 13, 2005
yeah, it just loops it.
or perhaps you keep looping your kerning failures.
one of the two, but I suspect the first, because it did the same to me (matched it on the first try. BOO YA PRODUCTION MANAGER HERE I COME SOMEONE GET ME MY LOUPE)
posted by fishfucker at 12:07 PM on October 13, 2005
ScottUltra, thanks for the link. That was amazingly helpful. I always seem to try to space based on the distance from the bottom of most letter, and this was a perfect example as to why NOT to do it.
Anyone have any other examples of properly kerned verse improper?
Also, I'm going to try the upside-down trick. Thanks silusGROK.
posted by [insert clever name here] at 12:30 PM on October 13, 2005
Anyone have any other examples of properly kerned verse improper?
Also, I'm going to try the upside-down trick. Thanks silusGROK.
posted by [insert clever name here] at 12:30 PM on October 13, 2005
When I was learning typography, I remember my professor telling us to imagine pouring sand into the space between letters. The idea was to adjust the letters so that you use the same amount of sand between each. It's essentially what escher mentions (white space) but converted into a more tangible idea, because you can imagine the sand flowing into the little nooks and crannies between letters.
posted by Jeff Howard at 1:01 PM on October 13, 2005
posted by Jeff Howard at 1:01 PM on October 13, 2005
I'll agree with the "by eye" thing, but take it a step further. Look at the letters in groups of THREE. (Example: letters 1, 2 and 3) Does the middle letter look closer to the one on the right or the left? Now move over one click (Letters 2, 3 and 4) and examine those. Analyzing in groups of three is the easiest way to "see" kerning problems.
posted by spock at 1:34 PM on October 13, 2005
posted by spock at 1:34 PM on October 13, 2005
I'd like to chime in with my thanks for the link, ScottUltra—frustrating loop or no, it's very educational.
posted by languagehat at 1:39 PM on October 13, 2005
posted by languagehat at 1:39 PM on October 13, 2005
I remember that when I learnt about kerning we had to colour in the inclosed, semi-inclosed and open spaces for each letter. The point of this was to understand that each of these types of spaces affect the way the eye sees the space. From there you can use the "sand" concept to work it out further. The groups of 3 sounds great too.
As a rule we were told to open up the letterspacing (kerning) so that the eye happily bounces from letter to letter, and close up the word spacing so that it is just decernable that it is a word space and then have the line spacing at a minimum of an extra 25%
posted by mule at 6:20 PM on October 13, 2005
As a rule we were told to open up the letterspacing (kerning) so that the eye happily bounces from letter to letter, and close up the word spacing so that it is just decernable that it is a word space and then have the line spacing at a minimum of an extra 25%
posted by mule at 6:20 PM on October 13, 2005
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by kindall at 9:56 AM on October 13, 2005