2658: Manual or Automatic Kerning Mar 28, 2022

Most computer programs will include features for kerning, i.e. adjusting the spacing of a print, but these may not always be as fitting as manual kerning. Computers can kern words and pages quickly and efficiently, but given how contextual this spacing may be, it may result in a visual effect that looks jarring. There are also problems of overkerning, where some letters in a word will slot together neatly, like <AV> but then the surrounding letters will not causing the word to look awkwardly spaced. If the <AVA> in the word <BRAVADO> would be set too close for instance, this would look jarring to a reading as if it's three distinct words, but without any kerning the center would look too spaced apart. Computers have a hard time recognizing what is more or less difficult to read so for expert detail, it is still often preferable to have a person behind the printing design.