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MaddieB2019
Participant
February 15, 2023
Question

Automatic Kerning Issues in Text Boxes

  • February 15, 2023
  • 5 replies
  • 4426 views

I keep having a weird issue with the text in illustrator. It doesn't matter if the text was copied and pasted or if I type it in, the same issue still happens. The kerning will oddly adjust itself while I am typing,  formatting the text, or moving the text box with the selection tool. I have tried turning on and off several Character panel features and using a new document, but the issue seems to keep happening. I'm not sure if I have some weird setting turned on or if this is just a bug needing to be fixed. This presents quite an issue while trying to format text in paragraphs as the text will adjust the kerning itself as I am formatting or moving the text box around with the selection tool.

I am running on the most current version of Illustrator CC. Any help or advice would be appreciated as this is very frustrating and I can't get it to stop!

    5 replies

    S
    SundayGladiator
    Legend
    November 2, 2024

    So i've been having a similar issue with my Avenir Next font, as well as others, in Illustrator with certain letter pairs 'touching' and driving me bananas.

     

    Then I realized under the character panel, if you highlight the text in your textbox, make sure the kerning is not set to 'Auto' but change it to 'Optical'. Voila! The letters 'r' and 't' are no longer kissing each other.

    I was today-years-old to discover this. Hope it helps your situation.

    M
    MayaSmadi
    Participant
    July 3, 2024

    Same issue here, very frustrating and really affecting my work. I've attached a video of what's goign on.

    I tried the suggestion of makign sure to click 'system layout' instead of fractional widths in the Character Panel but that hasn't fixed anything.  I've reset all settings in this file but this issue is persisting.

    Any help is much appreciated.

    Anubhav M
    Community Manager
    Anubhav MCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    July 26, 2024

    Hello @MayaSmadi,

    Sorry for the delayed response. I hope the problem is resolved by now. If not, kindly try resetting Illustrator's preferences as described in this article (https://adobe.ly/3SqJJoL) and checking if it helps.

     

    Disclaimer: Please note that renaming preferences folders will remove all the custom settings, and Illustrator will launch with default settings. You can also save a backup of the folders, the location of which is mentioned above.


    Looking forward to hearing from you.

     

    Thanks,

    Anubhav

      T
      todde11569938
      Participant
      July 8, 2023

      Yeah just had this too - out of knowwhere - bloody annoying.

      I tried to past the type in a browser (just to strip formnatting) , then just copy it back into a new file and new text box in illustrator and it goes away. It seems to by in the job itself?

      I have opened up older projects and it doesn't shift the kerning etc..... it's like it keeps altering the kerning then also shifting type either to the next line or one above without me doing anything.

       

      Start a new file seems to the the only fix?

      N
      N_ERD
      Participant
      October 13, 2023

      I had the same issue, creating a new paragraph style and applying that to the text seemed to solve the problem 🙂 

      Anubhav M
      Community Manager
      Anubhav MCommunity Manager
      Community Manager
      February 15, 2023

      Hello @MaddieB2019,

       

      We understand that encountering technical issues can be frustrating. We are here to help and would like to suggest trying to reset Illustrator's preferences as described in this article (https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/kb/troubleshoot-preference-issues.html).
      Disclaimer: Please note that resetting preferences will remove all custom settings, and Illustrator will launch with the defaults. You may save a backup of these settings from the location mentioned in the article.

      If you don't mind, could you please follow the steps and share your observations with us? We appreciate your time and effort in helping us resolve this issue.

       

      Looking forward to your response.

       

      Thanks,

      Anubhav

      B
      Community Expert
      Bobby HendersonCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      February 15, 2023

      Does the problem persist if you apply a different typeface to the text block? Not all OpenType fonts are equal; some have quite a few context sensitive ligatures and other features that can get entered automatically depending on the text being typed. Is the text block set to full justify alignment? I wouldn't think the use of a layout grid or baseline grid would affect tracking. But I wondered about that when you said the letter spacing would change just by moving the text block.

        M
        MaddieB2019Author
        Participant
        February 15, 2023

        Thank you for the reply! I have tried a couple of different typefaces and they have all done the same thing. I also have the text set to left-aligned. I also turned off all of the snapping features as I thought that could be the issue and it keeps happening regardless of the alignment, snapping, and typeface. It's very odd! 

        B
        Community Expert
        Bobby HendersonCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        February 15, 2023

        The text block behavior does sound pretty strange. I'm used to a line of text shifting slightly horizontally while typing due to context sensitive ligatures or other special characters being automatically applied. What you describe sounds more distracting.

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