# Kerning

> Source: https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/kerning

Last updated: 2026-09-06
Category: Typesetting & layout
Also called: Kerning pairs · Tracking (contrast)

Kerning is adjusting the space between two particular letters, such as A and V, so the gap looks even; tracking changes spacing across a whole word.

## Definition

**Kerning** is the fine adjustment of space between a particular pair of letters. Type is designed on rectangular bodies, so some pairs — **AV**, **To**, **Wa**, **P.** — sit too far apart when their bodies simply touch; the designer builds a table of exceptions, called *kerning pairs*, that pulls them together (or occasionally pushes them apart). Good text faces carry hundreds or thousands of such pairs, and typesetting software applies them automatically.

Kerning is not **tracking**. Tracking (or letter-spacing) adds or removes the same amount of space between every letter in a range; it is used sparingly for small caps and headings, and letter-spaced lowercase is a classic mark of bad typesetting.

In body text, kerning is invisible when it works — which is the point. It becomes a manual craft in display sizes, where a headline's gaps are large enough to see and each pair may be nudged by eye.

## In Bindery

Bindery typesets in LaTeX, which applies each font’s own kerning pairs automatically as it sets the text.

## Related

- [Ligature](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/ligature)
- [Leading](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/leading)
- [Typesetting](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/typesetting)
- [Drop cap](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/drop-cap)
- [Turn a Word Document Into a Printed Book](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/tools/word-document-to-printed-book)
- [Book Publishing Glossary — 59 Terms Defined](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary)
- [Bindery — the Claude-powered book studio](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/bindery)

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