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Budd Tugley
Inspiring
December 13, 2017
Open for Voting

Set kerning and tracking increments for the keyboard shortcuts?

  • December 13, 2017
  • 7 replies
  • 6065 views

When kerning type the keyboard shortcut adjusts spacing by +/-20 units. It doesn't specify what units but I'm guessing it's points? The other fields are in points, but the kerning and leading fields don't specify.

Doesn't really matter.

What I'd like to do is be able to adjust that amount, change the increment to say 5 units for finer control. I'm starting to design more and more on photoshop. I would love to be able to set type quickly, instead of entering values manually. It would be very useful to be able to set the kerning, tracking, and leading increments like those apps allow us to.

      7 replies

      Max_Heimer
      Max_Heimer
      Participant
      October 18, 2024

      My default keyboard leading increment in the document I'm currently working in appears to be 119.63 pt, on 90 pt type, which is insane lol. Not sure if this is a program glitch or something, but it'd be really nice to adjust that back to a reasonable amount…

        PECourtejoie
        Community Expert
        PECourtejoieCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        May 2, 2023

        @Bruno27803690dlfg and @llealloo I'm afraid thatthis might be a false memory: if Photoshop had that feature, someone would have written a tip about it, and a web search would give us a trace, but there is none I can find. I think that you are mixing the Id or Ai preference. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_memory#Mandela_effect ) 
        And this does not remove the need to set it up in Photoshop, but I just wanted to avoid misinformation to spread.

        llealloo
        llealloo
        Known Participant
        February 26, 2023

        what the heck, they took it out?

         

        let's hope they add it back, because the increments are all messed up in the current build

          B
          Bruno27803690dlfg
          Participant
          January 4, 2023

          In prior versions of Photoshop they had that feature. I used it all the time. For some idiotic reason they got rid of it. Very frustrating!

            M
            Markus26842333nnjc
            Participant
            October 28, 2022

            Hello,

            I am just bumping this thread since I don't want to start a new thread. Photoshop 2023 is now released and we still can't kern properly in Photoshop due to the lack of controlling the increments. I do a lot of banners in Photoshop with texts in them. It is really time consuming to have to make the texts in Illustrator and do the kerning there and then place them in Photoshop. Since I use the brush/pixelgraphics a lot on the go when I'm working with the texts, I can't make the banners in any other program either. 

            TL;DR: Please implement Kerning Increment Control in Photoshop. 

              PECourtejoie
              Community Expert
              PECourtejoieCommunity Expert
              Community Expert
              October 28, 2022

              Converting this thread to a feature request, please vote on top if you are interested!

                mattm46660926
                mattm46660926
                Participant
                November 13, 2020

                totally man! my kerning is all over the place in photoshop cause I can't set the units smaller. Adobe please fix!

                  Barb Binder
                  Community Expert
                  Barb BinderCommunity Expert
                  Community Expert
                  December 13, 2017

                  Hi Budd:

                  Tracking and kerning are both measured in 1/1000 em, a unit of measure that is relative to the current type size. In a 6‑point font, 1 em equals 6 points; in a 10‑point font, 1 em equals 10 points. Kerning and tracking are strictly proportional to the current type size. (Leading is measured in points.)

                  InDesign and Illustrator—which both place a strong emphasis on typography—allow you to adjust the default increment amounts in Preferences. Photoshop—primarily an image editing application—does not have the equivalent feature.

                  InDesign:

                  Illustrator:

                  ~Barb

                  ~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
                    B
                    Budd TugleyAuthor
                    Inspiring
                    December 13, 2017

                    Thanks Barb. That's disappointing that photoshop doesn't have a similar feature. Although it's an image editing application I don't think that's the only way Photoshop is used in the marketplace. I hope Adobe recognizes that in the future. I often have to treat typography just like imagery, which is why it would be great to have quick and customizable ways to set type the same way I can with Indesign and Illustrator. Thanks again for your thorough and definitive answer.

                      Barb Binder
                      Community Expert
                      Barb BinderCommunity Expert
                      Community Expert
                      December 13, 2017

                      I do agree with you that Photoshop is no longer only an image editing application. There’s a lot of overlap between these applications these days. Are you aware you can add images to Illustrator—I wonder If that would be helpful in your workflow?

                      And you can certainly add this as a Photoshop feature request:

                      Photoshop Family Customer Community

                      ~Barb

                      ~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
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