There is a fundamental difference between spacing and kerning a font. This chapter deals with spacing which is the process of determining the extra space each glyph will have to its left and to its right. This space is called sidebearings. The aim is to optically center each glyph on the horizontal area the type-designer allocates for it.
Drawing type and spacing are integrated steps. It is important to space the font while drawing them and not as a second separate step after the font is already digitized. This is not true however for kerning. Problems in spacing can often be solved by changing glyph shapes.
Drawing type and spacing are integrated steps. It is important to space the font while drawing them and not as a second separate step after the font is already digitized. This is not true however for kerning. Problems in spacing can often be solved by changing glyph shapes.
Imagine a piece of metal type. The characters are usually a little smaller than the block of metal they are on. This little bit of extra metal on the left and the right of a character are called the sidebearings.
When judging the spacing of characters think about the spacing not as a distance between two characters but as a rhythm between white and black surface areas, between shape and counter shape.
Is a font intended to be used primarily for copy text the spacing is probably best fitted quite loosely. Try to space the glyphs so that the inter character space is just a little bigger than the space inside each glyph.
Display type faces are meant to be used in big sizes and deserve a different spacing. It is still desirable to optically center each glyph but the spacing between glyphs can be much tighter. In some cases serifs may touch or overlap. The aim is really to fit as many characters onto a single line of text as possible.
Display type faces are meant to be used in big sizes and deserve a different spacing. It is still desirable to optically center each glyph but the spacing between glyphs can be much tighter. In some cases serifs may touch or overlap. The aim is really to fit as many characters onto a single line of text as possible.
In order to determine the right amount of overall spacing it is not necessary to look at every conceivable combination of glyphs. Instead every glyph can be spaced with the two control characters o and n.
Once all lower case glyphs work well with the control characters the hunt for exceptions begins. Spacing exceptions can be solved with kerning.
- Type in a bunch of "o" and set the left and right sidebearing values so the rhythm between counter shapes and character spacing is what you envisioned.
- Once the spacing of the "o" is correct. Place a "n" between the row of "o" and make this work again by adjusting the values for the sidebearings.
- Repeat these steps for all characters. i.e. place the "a" between a row of "o" and adjust sidebearings. Then place the "a" between a row of "n" and double check sidebearings.
Once all lower case glyphs work well with the control characters the hunt for exceptions begins. Spacing exceptions can be solved with kerning.
Notice how the j has a negative right sidebearing. In metal type this is just a little overhang which in digital type would be represented by a negative value.
To get started open a new metrics window from the menu called Window and resize it so it fills the screen. You can customize the functionality of your metrics window to fit your own way of working. If your metrics window looks different from the one in these illustrations try to push these buttons here.
Now type a bunch of characters and adjust their sidebearings.
Now type a bunch of characters and adjust their sidebearings.
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