when to use optical kerning or metrics and how about...

Evie30 August 2010 · 18:04

Hi everyone

Could someone please explain to a soon to be first year student Graphic design when to use the optical kerning and when to use metrics (Indesign CS4)?

Is it so that when using like headings it would be wise to use "optical" kerning and for plain text in small size corps to use Metrics? or does this depend on the font used?

Also how about justification function in Indesign, is there like a golden tip as to what percentage to use for word spacing (minimum, desired, maximum) someone once told me that minimum should be always at 70% and maximum at 120%, is this true?

what about letter spacing? Is it better to just leave everything at default, and when do you actually change letter spacing, i never really touch the letter spacing (minimum, desired, maximum)function and leave it at 0%, thinking that the guy who designed the typeface knows best and thus i leave it at default.

do you guys have like settings you almost always use?

Thank you again for all the help, learning a great deal here at Typophile!

Cristobal Henestrosa30 August 2010 · 22:58

When the type designer did his/her work, he took decisions about kerning: if you trust him, stick to the Metrics option. I only use Optical kerning if I have two different fonts and/or very contrasting point sizes in the same line (for instance, the rare case when the first letter of the word is a Script font and the rest is set in a Roman typeface), or if the spacing and/or kerning of the font is terrible. But, if this is the case, it is better to forget it and choose another font.

Now, for headlines you must check letter spacing and adjust slighty (trust in your eye, not in the Optical kerning option). That is because the type designer probably didn’t think about the particular word and the point size you are using.

About justification: depends on how perfectionist you are and how much time you have. Typically, my minumum is 90% and my maximum 110%, but if I have narrow columns I allow more flexible values.