kerning
The process of reducing the spacing between certain
pairs of letters to improve their appearance. When a {font}
is created, each {character} is given a width that includes
some space around it so that the letters don't run into each
other when displayed or printed. This can be thought of as an
invisible box around each character. Some pairs of characters
such as A and V, look better if the boxes overlap slightly,
bringing the characters closer together (but still not
touching).
See also {tracking}, {leading}.
(1996-06-07)