I've mentioned it before, but one area of layout that makes any pro cringe at many amateur attempts is the typography, but even more specifically is kerning. This is true in PDF layout, but I see it on some popular stream overlays and titles, too. You'll never unsee it. 1/7

Kerning is the spacing relationship between individual characters, as opposed to tracking, which is the space between all your letters. Good fonts have metrics built into them called Kerning Tables. These control the relationships between all the characters. 2/7

Display fonts (and by that, I mean 'cool stylistic fonts') almost never have them, which leaves a problem, especially given that they are so often used in RPG design. To the font file, each letter has an invisible square around it. 3/7

It's the digital equivalent of old metal type. The letters can't get any closer than the box. With kerning, those boxes can overlap so that OPTICALLY, they look composed. Letters like T can be bad, especially the wider the top bar. 4/7

The fastest way to train your eye is to look at X V W Y & A combos. Especially when those letters pair w/ each other, such as XA & VA. In those cases, large optical gaps occur which are not proportional to the gaps between other letters. This is jarring to the readers' eyes. 5/7

In any design app, you can quickly adjust the spacing, often with a shortcut of Ctrl/Cmd arrows. Remember, this is all about the perception of space, not actual measured numbers. 6/7

Kerning isn't just for these issues, though. You should also look for things such as serifs colliding, and adjusting as needed. A good font might have ligatures to replace common collisions such as on ff, fl, fi. Do research and adjust your designs. You'll look like a pro. 7/7