How letter spacing changes a line of type
Letter spacing—often called tracking in typography—is the added gap applied consistently between characters. Increase it, and every word occupies more horizontal room; reduce it, and the same text becomes more compact. The letters themselves do not change size, but the rhythm of the spaces around them changes how the whole line looks.
That rhythm affects more than width. A little extra space can make short labels or uppercase headings feel calm and carefully composed, because each character is easier to distinguish at a glance. But the same setting can make a long sentence feel fragmented: readers must bridge more gaps as they follow the line. Tight spacing can make text look dense, and if letters crowd together, their shapes become harder to separate.
Tracking is not the same as kerning
Tracking adjusts spacing across a run of text. Kerning instead fine-tunes the gap between a particular pair of letters—such as “A” and “V,” whose angled shapes can leave an awkward opening if spaced mechanically. Designers may use both: kerning to correct individual pairs, tracking to change the overall texture or fit of a word, heading, or paragraph.
Because tracking changes a line’s total width, it can also affect where text wraps in a narrow column or on a small screen. A designer might open up a brief heading for a more measured appearance, then keep paragraph text closer together so it remains comfortable to read. The tradeoff is practical as well as visual: a few added gaps can give a title room to breathe, but across a long line they can push words onto the next line.
