System 7: Intercharacter Spacing, Kerning in 6.x and 7.0


Is there any difference between intercharacter spacing and kerning pairs
in system software 7.0 and 6.x? What is the difference between bitmap
and TrueType spacing?


Spacing and Kerning
-------------------
Apple didn't change spacing with the bitmap characters in System 7, but
matched each bitmapped character width in 6.x to the corresponding
character in 7.0.  New bitmap characters created just for System 7 will
have spacing differences.

Apple didn't changed the kerning pairs either.  Many applications allow you
to change kerning.

Bitmap and TrueType Spacing Differences
---------------------------------------
Bitmaps use integer widths, while outline fonts (TrueType) use fractional
widths.  Fractional widths allow exact size adjustments for intercharacter
spacing as well as kerning.  Integer widths limit these adjustments to
whole sizes.  This is one of the main advantages of TrueType.


Published Date: Feb 18, 2012