Terms of Endearment and a Photoshop Type Tip

For anyone who has ever wondered, or even for those who have never given it a thought, I would like to explain two common terms that are used to describe something that you already know exists, but probably never knew that it even had a name.

The terms of endearment of which I speak are in regards to typeography, something which is near and dear to my heart (but also something, that when done in the wrong font or style, can drive me absolutely nuts!!). I know, I know, I'm a geek.

The first term describes the horizontal spacing in between characters. This is called "kerning." The second describes the vertical spacing in between lines of characters (i.e. "line spacing"), and it is called "leading." You can usually control both of these measurements depending on what type of software you are using.

KERNING AND LEADING IN PHOTOSHOP

While working with type in Photoshop, you have the option of increasing and decreasing both kerning and leading. To pull up the character window in Photoshop, go to the "Window" menu, and select "Character." A little box will pop up with lots of fun little ways in which you can edit and customize your type. The top two options will appear as drop-down menus, as shown in the screengrab below:

They are pretty self-explanatory, and the best way to learn is to experiment depending on the project and the space you have. For more technical info, here are the links to more info on kerning and leading:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerning
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leading

Cheers!

Geek Girl