Letter Spacing in PowerPoint: How to Adjust Tracking for Logo Text

The short answer

To change letter spacing in PowerPoint, select the text and open the Character Spacing control on the Home tab. It looks like the letters AV with a two-headed arrow under them. You can choose a preset such as Tight or Loose, or choose More Spacing to set an exact value. In the Font dialog that opens, go to the Character Spacing tab. Set Spacing to Expanded or Condensed and enter an amount in points in the By field.

In type design, adjusting the space evenly across a run of letters is called tracking. Adjusting the space between one specific pair of letters, such as A and V, is called kerning. PowerPoint's Spacing setting works like tracking on whatever you select. The Kerning for fonts checkbox in the same dialog turns on the kerning pairs built into the font. For a logo wordmark, you often need both: tracking for the overall rhythm and pair-by-pair corrections where letters look too far apart or too crowded.

Step by step: changing character spacing in a PowerPoint slide

• 1. Click into the text box and select the characters you want to adjust. To affect the whole wordmark, select every letter. To fix a single gap, select only the first letter of that pair.
• 2. On the Home tab, in the Font group, click the Character Spacing button.
• 3. Pick a preset (Very Tight, Tight, Normal, Loose or Very Loose) for a quick change, or click More Spacing for precise control.
• 4. In the Font dialog, open the Character Spacing tab. Set Spacing to Expanded to add space or Condensed to remove it, then type a value in points in the By box.
• 5. If you want the font's built-in pair adjustments, tick Kerning for fonts and set the minimum point size it should apply to.
• 6. Click OK. Repeat for any individual letter pairs that still look uneven.

Menu labels and button placement can differ between PowerPoint for Windows, PowerPoint for Mac and the web version, and between releases. If you don't see the Character Spacing button, look for Font options in the Format menu or in the right-click menu on selected text. The supplied material did not confirm which spacing options each edition supports, so check your own version if that matters.

What the spacing options do

Setting | Where to find it | What it changes

Character Spacing presets | Home tab, Character Spacing button | Applies a preset tightening or loosening to the selected text

Spacing: Expanded | Font dialog, Character Spacing tab | Adds the entered number of points of space after each selected character

Spacing: Condensed | Font dialog, Character Spacing tab | Removes the entered number of points of space after each selected character

Kerning for fonts | Font dialog, Character Spacing tab | Turns on the font's own kerning pairs at or above the chosen size

Why logo spacing can shift when you resize text

The By value is a fixed amount in points, not a proportion of the font size. If you set the spacing at one size and then make the text much larger or smaller, the gaps will not scale with the letters, so the wordmark's proportions change. AutoFit settings such as Shrink text on overflow can also change the font size without you noticing. The safest order is to choose the final size first and adjust the spacing second. Alternatively, convert the finished text to shapes before you scale it, as described below.

Turning spaced text into usable logo artwork

While text in PowerPoint stays editable, it depends on the font installed on whichever computer opens the file. On a machine without that font, PowerPoint substitutes another typeface and your spacing work is lost. For artwork that has to look the same everywhere, convert the letters to vector outlines. Vector outlines are shapes defined by paths, not by a font file. In current versions of PowerPoint you can do this with Merge Shapes. Select the text box and then a simple shape that overlaps it, and use one of the Merge Shapes commands such as Intersect or Fragment. The result is editable shapes rather than live type.

After converting, compare the outlined version with the live text at high zoom. Check that every letter survived, that counters such as the hole in an O or A weren't filled in, and that the gaps between letters match what you set. Keep an unconverted copy of the text on a hidden slide or in a separate file so you can still edit the wording or spacing later.

Microsoft 365 versions of PowerPoint can save selected shapes as SVG from the right-click Save as Picture option. An exported SVG may still contain embedded raster images or other non-path content, so open it in a vector editor to confirm that it is clean outlines before handing it off for print or production.

Checking the result

• Zoom in well beyond normal viewing size and look for uneven gaps, especially around round letters, diagonals and capitals next to lowercase.
• View the wordmark at the smallest size it will realistically be used, because spacing that looks fine large can make letters merge when small.
• If the logo has to match existing brand artwork, place the official file next to your version and compare letter by letter. Don't rely on memory.
• If you send the editable presentation to others, either outline the logo text or check whether the font can be embedded through PowerPoint's save options. The font's license controls whether embedding is permitted.

Decisions and limits to keep in mind

The source material for this guide contained no confirmed spacing values, so this article doesn't recommend specific point amounts. The right setting depends on the typeface, the size and the brand's guidelines. If the logo belongs to an established brand, use the artwork the owner supplies; retyping it in PowerPoint and adjusting the spacing by eye can produce something that looks close but isn't the approved logo. A file's extension, whether .pptx, .svg or anything else, doesn't prove that it contains true vector paths, that it is fully editable or that you have permission to modify or reuse the logo inside it.