Kerning Text

Kerning is similar to character spacing, except that where character spacing controls the spacing between all the characters in a line (or a selection), kerning is concerned with making pairs of letters look good together. For example, certain pairs of letters appear to have gaps between them, because of their shape ( Figure 4.29 ). Kerning these pairs of letters tightens up the space between the pair, making for a more pleasing look. If you really know your type, you can tighten or loosen kerning in Keynote to make precise changes.

Figure 4.29. Text that is not kerned doesn't look as good as kerned text.

Most of the time (thanks to Mac OS X's excellent built-in typography) the text in Keynote will be automatically kerned, and you can accept the default kerning. But if you want more control, you've got it.

To adjust text kerning

1.	Select the text you wish to kern.
2.	Choose one of the following, depending on what you want to do: Format > Font > Kern > Use Default Format > Font > Kern > Use None Format > Font > Kern > Tighten Format > Font > Kern > Loosen The text changes to match your adjustment.