Newbie Spacing Letters In Words? Pt 2

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Wind Gatherer
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Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2018 1:05 am

Newbie Spacing Letters In Words? Pt 2

Post by Wind Gatherer »

More.
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SandyMcC
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Joined: Mon May 09, 2011 7:01 am

Re: Newbie Spacing Letters In Words? Pt 2

Post by SandyMcC »

In general, fonts are not designed to be equidistant between the letters. Instead, designers focus on having the same amount of "white space" between letters. Thus, for example two "I's" would end up further apart than an "I" and a "T". But if having exact spacing is something that matters in this particular project, then you can use the Object>Distribute function to force the letters to be the same space apart. Because there are a number of options, you might want to go over Section 3.19 of the SCAL5 UM that I wrote:

http://www.iloveknk.com/0um/SCAL5/SCAL5-User-Manual.pdf

If you have any questions or issues with using the Distribute function, post back and I'll help!
Sandy McCauley
Owner of http://www.iloveknk.com/
Wind Gatherer
Posts: 35
Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2018 1:05 am

Re: Newbie Spacing Letters In Words? Pt 2

Post by Wind Gatherer »

I Googled " same amount of "white space" between letters. "
Found interesting site, The Beginner’s Guide to Tracking
http://www.indesignskills.com/tutorials ... ypography/
I'll have a read through this and any other informative sites on the subject and see what I can learn.
I had a look at Section 3.19 of the SCAL5 UM . I think I might need to cross reference what I found out about white space and tracking, to the options available in SCAL.
Thanks again :)
SandyMcC
Posts: 1114
Joined: Mon May 09, 2011 7:01 am

Re: Newbie Spacing Letters In Words? Pt 2

Post by SandyMcC »

Note that Tracking is a setting on the Text Panel in SCAL which will change the spacing between all of the selected letters at the same time, similar to what the article at that link was presenting.
Sandy McCauley
Owner of http://www.iloveknk.com/
Wind Gatherer
Posts: 35
Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2018 1:05 am

Re: Newbie Spacing Letters In Words? Pt 2

Post by Wind Gatherer »

SandyMcC wrote:Note that Tracking is a setting on the Text Panel in SCAL which will change the spacing between all of the selected letters at the same time, similar to what the article at that link was presenting.
As I expect you know the link was for Adobe software. Can you refer me to any resources, regards white space in lettering etc , specific to my present interest, so I can come up to steam more quickly as it were?
Thanks.
SandyMcC
Posts: 1114
Joined: Mon May 09, 2011 7:01 am

Re: Newbie Spacing Letters In Words? Pt 2

Post by SandyMcC »

It actually came from private calligraphy lessons I had back in 1990 with a gentleman named James Pickering who had studied in England under a teacher who was a student of a student of Edward Johnston. I was taught that letters like two "O"s should always be closer together than two "M"s in order to balance the "white space." Thus, my point was just that font designers may not necessarily attempt to have equidistances between their letters in their font for that very reason. But, since I'm only a student of calligraphy and not typography, I don't have anything more to really share about this. Sorry!

I do have to say that I'm VERY curious now about your intended final project and why it matters so much to have this spacing be the same. I've been helping cutters owners for the past 13 years (private classes, weekend retreats, many other Yahoo and Facebook groups and forums) using 4 different cutting/designing software programs and this specific request has never come up before. So, I'm quite intrigued! :)
Sandy McCauley
Owner of http://www.iloveknk.com/
Wind Gatherer
Posts: 35
Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2018 1:05 am

Re: Newbie Spacing Letters In Words? Pt 2

Post by Wind Gatherer »

"I'm VERY curious now about your intended final project and why it matters so much to have this spacing be the same"
OK, I'd like it to look as professional and as correct as possible, not come over to the viewer as being amateurish .
I expect you have heard of the TV show The X Factor, the reality television music competition to find new singing talent.
Well, the sign I'm putting together, is sort of a play on words, The Hit Fak Ter.

Perhaps spacing the letters I'm being overly pedantic :)
Wind Gatherer
Posts: 35
Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2018 1:05 am

Re: Newbie Spacing Letters In Words? Pt 2

Post by Wind Gatherer »

Correction, that should have been, THE HIT FAK TA
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