What does Character Tracking do in typography?

What does Character Tracking do in typography?

• A. Changes the spacing between all characters in a block of text
• B. Adjusts line height only
• C. Changes font size across a paragraph
• D. Adjusts kerning between words only

Answer: (A)

Character tracking adjusts the uniform spacing between all characters in a block of text, tightening or loosening the entire line or selection. This changes the overall density and rhythm of the text because every gap between letters is increased or decreased by the same amount, creating a consistent look across the whole passage. This is different from kerning, which targets spacing between specific adjacent letter pairs to fix optical inconsistencies, and from line height, which changes vertical space between lines, or font size, which scales the glyphs themselves. Tracking is used to achieve a desired optical balance or fit a block of text neatly within a design.

Character tracking adjusts the uniform spacing between all characters in a block of text, tightening or loosening the entire line or selection. This changes the overall density and rhythm of the text because every gap between letters is increased or decreased by the same amount, creating a consistent look across the whole passage. This is different from kerning, which targets spacing between specific adjacent letter pairs to fix optical inconsistencies, and from line height, which changes vertical space between lines, or font size, which scales the glyphs themselves. Tracking is used to achieve a desired optical balance or fit a block of text neatly within a design.