Change letter spacing

The short answer

How you change letter spacing in a logo depends on what the lettering actually is inside the file. If the letters are still live text, you can adjust spacing through the type settings, using tracking for even spacing across a word and kerning for the gap between a single pair of letters. If the letters have been converted to outlines, there is no spacing control left. Each letter is a shape, and you have to move the shapes by hand. If the lettering is an embedded raster image, it cannot be respaced cleanly in a vector workflow. You need the source file or a vector redraw.

So the first step is to find out what the lettering is made of. Judging the spacing comes after that.

Tracking versus kerning

Tracking applies the same amount of extra or reduced space to every gap in a selected range of text. It is the right control when a whole word or line looks too tight or too loose. Kerning changes the space between one specific pair of characters. It is the right control when most of the word looks fine but certain combinations look uneven, such as a slanted letter next to a round one. Many logo spacing problems are kerning problems that people try to fix with tracking, which makes some gaps better and others worse.

Order of checks before adjusting

• 1. Identify the construction. Switch to an outline or wireframe view, select the lettering, and check the layers or objects list. Live text can be edited with a type tool. Outlined letters appear as paths or compound paths. An embedded image appears as a single raster object. A file extension such as .ai, .eps, .svg or .pdf does not prove vector construction, and neither does a sharp preview.
• 2. If it is live text, confirm the font is installed. A missing font is usually replaced by a substitute, and the substitute has different widths and spacing. Fix the font before judging the spacing.
• 3. Check the existing kerning mode and any manual kerning already applied. Font-based (metrics) kerning and software-calculated (optical) kerning can produce different results, and earlier manual adjustments may be stacked on top.
• 4. Check for effects that change how spacing looks without changing the actual spacing, such as strokes added to the letters, non-uniform scaling, or outlines taken from different source sizes.
• 5. Decide whether the problem is uniform (adjust tracking) or limited to specific pairs (adjust kerning or move individual shapes).
• 6. Make the change, then review the logo at the sizes it will actually be used at.

Changing spacing on live text

Select the text object to change tracking across the whole word, or place the cursor between two characters to change kerning for that pair. Vector editors expose both values in their character or text settings, and many also allow keyboard nudging. Work in small steps. Spacing changes that look minor on screen at large zoom can look heavy when the logo is shown small.

In SVG, live text and outlined text are visibly different in the markup. A letter-spacing attribute only has an effect on a text element. Once the lettering has become path data, the attribute no longer applies:

<!-- Live text: spacing is an editable property -->
<text font-family="…" letter-spacing="…">BRAND</text>

<!-- Outlined text: only geometry remains -->
<path d="M… Z"/>

Support for text spacing attributes can vary between renderers. If the logo will be delivered as live-text SVG, check it in the applications where it will be displayed.

Changing spacing on outlined lettering

Once text is outlined, spacing becomes the position of separate shapes. Select one whole letter at a time and move it horizontally only, so the baseline stays aligned. Letters with inner spaces, such as O, A or B, are usually compound paths. Keep each compound path intact. Breaking it apart can fill in the counters or separate parts of the letter. If all the letters are merged into a single compound path, you have to release or separate them carefully before you can move anything. After that, regroup each letter so it moves as one unit.

If the original live-text version still exists, it is usually better to adjust the spacing there and outline it again than to rebuild the spacing on the outlined copy.

What you can verify versus what you have to judge

Observable in the file | Visual judgment

Whether lettering is live text, paths, compound paths or an embedded image | Whether the word looks evenly spaced

Which font is assigned and whether it is installed or substituted | Whether a pair gap looks too tight or too open

The tracking and kerning values applied to live text | Whether the spacing holds up at small sizes

The horizontal positions of outlined letter shapes | Whether the result still matches the brand's character

Equal numeric gaps do not guarantee even visual spacing. Round and pointed letters usually need different distances to look consistent. Use the numbers to check that the change was applied as intended, and use your eye to decide whether it works.

After the change

Keep a master copy with live text if you have one. If the logo is going to people or systems that may not have the font, export a version with the text outlined so the spacing cannot shift through font substitution. Then open the exported file and confirm that the lettering appears as paths and not as an embedded image, and that the spacing matches the master.

Permission and brand rules

Having access to a logo file does not mean you are allowed to modify it. Many brands specify their logo lettering as fixed artwork. If the logo is not yours, confirm with the owner or check their brand guidelines before you change the spacing.

What this answer cannot settle

No specific file, software version or spacing values were provided, so this guide cannot recommend exact tracking or kerning amounts or confirm how a particular logo was built. Those answers depend on inspecting the actual file with the checks above.