K

Kerning

extend. Kern
To Kern is to adjust the space between individual letter forms, to enhance readability. In body copy this is usually done to reduce the space, but can be used in headings to increase the space between 'problem pairs' of letters.

DTP layout design software QuarkXpress allows type designers to set up default preferences for different fonts and kerning pairs. This allows for precisely kerned typographic control throughout the body copy of a document, where previously this would have involved far too much work.

This is an area where Adobe InDesign is lacking behind QuarkXpress, as is discussed in the design forums in the topic about Kerning in InDesign.

See also: Tracking