What is Kerning and Why Is It Important?

Kerning refers to the adjustment of space between individual letters or characters in typography. In Abyssale, the kerning feature works by adjusting the character space itself, which means characters can actually overlap when negative values are applied. Unlike tracking (which adjusts spacing uniformly across text), kerning gives you precise control over character positioning for professional typography effects.

Proper kerning control allows you to:

Create overlapping text effects
Position superscript characters precisely
Develop custom typographic styling
Fine-tune character positioning for logos and headlines

Using Kerning Markup in Abyssale

Abyssale provides a special markup language to adjust kerning in your text elements across various generation methods.

Basic Kerning Syntax

To adjust kerning in Abyssale, use the following markup:

<k=VALUE%>text to adjust</k>

Where VALUE is the percentage adjustment:

0%: Default kerning as defined by the font
100%: Adds spacing equal to the font size
-100%: Reduces spacing by the equivalent of the font size (causing significant overlap)
Negative values cause characters to overlap
Positive values increase the character spacing

Important: Kerning adjustments are not visible in the Design Builder interface. The effects will only appear when the design is actually generated.

Current Limitations in the Design Builder

At present, the kerning markup language cannot be directly applied within the Design Builder interface. There is no dedicated button or control for kerning adjustments in the editor, and the markup will not render properly if entered directly into text fields within the Design Builder.

This means:

You cannot preview kerning effects while designing
The kerning markup can only be applied through generation methods (API, Spreadsheet, etc.)
Text with kerning adjustments will only display correctly in the final generated designs

This limitation is important to understand when planning designs that require precise character spacing or overlapping effects. For complex typography requiring kerning, you'll need to use one of the generation methods described below and may need to go through several test generations to achieve the desired result.

Applying Kerning Through Different Methods

Via API

Include kerning markup in your text content when making API requests:

{
  "elements": {
    "price": {
      "payload": "€15<k=-30%>.</k><sup>99</sup>"
    }
  }
}

Via Dynamic Image URL

You can include kerning markup in your dynamic image URL payloads, just like you would with other markup language:

&text.payload=15<k=-30%>.</k><sup>99</sup>

Via CSV Import

You can include kerning markup directly in your CSV files:

Add the complete text with kerning tags in the appropriate column of your CSV
Upload your CSV through the Spreadsheet generation interface
The overlapping character effects will be applied when designs are generated

Via Quick Generation Form

Kerning markup can also be used in the Quick Generation input fields:

Select a text input
Type your text and apply any other formatting using the WYSIWYG controls
Add the kerning markup tags directly in the input
<k=VALUE%>text to adjust</k>
While other formatting will be visible in the preview, the kerning effects will only be visible after generation

Note : This can create a somewhat disconnected experience as you can preview other text formatting but not the kerning effects. However, the kerning markup will still work correctly when the designs are generated.

Via Spreadsheet

Kerning markup can also be used in the Abyssale Spreadsheet input fields:

Select a text cell
Type your text and apply any other formatting using the WYSIWYG controls
Add the kerning markup tags directly in the input
<k=VALUE%>text to adjust</k>
While other formatting will be visible in the preview, the kerning effects will only be visible after generation

Important Considerations

Font and Weight Dependency

The visual effect of kerning values is significantly impacted by the font properties you choose:

Font Family Impact

Different font families have inherently different character widths and spacing. The same kerning value will produce dramatically different results between fonts:

Monospace fonts (like Courier or Roboto Mono): Even with the same kerning value, characters may overlap less noticeably because these fonts have consistent character widths
Condensed fonts (like Arial Narrow): May require less aggressive kerning values to achieve overlap
Extended fonts: May require more aggressive kerning values to achieve the same visual effect

Font Weight Considerations

Font weight dramatically changes how kerning values affect character spacing:

Light or Thin weights: Characters typically have less width, so the same kerning percentage may create more extreme overlapping
Bold or Black weights: Characters occupy more horizontal space, which can make overlapping effects more pronounced
Variable width characters: In many fonts, characters like 'i' and 'l' are narrower than 'w' and 'm', meaning the same kerning value will create inconsistent overlap effects across different character pairs

When switching between font weights within the same design, you'll need to adjust your kerning values accordingly. For example:

A -25% kerning value in a Regular weight might need to be reduced to -15% in Bold
A -40% kerning value in a Black weight might need to be increased to -50% in Light

Testing for Optimal Results

Since kerning adjustments (especially overlapping effects) are only visible after generation:

Generate small test batches first
Make incremental adjustments (5-10% at a time)
Review the actual generated results before proceeding with larger batches
Create a reference table of effective kerning values for your most commonly used fonts and weights

Discover Abyssale Quick Generation Form

Understanding and Resolving Generation Errors in Abyssale

Creating Effective Text-to-Image Prompts in Abyssale

Advanced Text Formatting: Customize Kerning in Abyssale