Kern Baby — Typographic kerning aid

To save time and eyesight, use this text for testing character-spacing and kerning. It has all the usual character combos, with the main kerning pairs heading the list. Leslie Cabarga, creator of the excellent Kern King, hinted that someone could go one better. Well, this text adds many common, useful character pairs, plus all-caps and other characters, and it’s still very short. Simply copy it into your font of choice and start peering.

You don’t need it all

Just use section 1. Ignore the rest if you’re kerning by class, with pairs like Ac, Ae, Ad, Ao and Aq all kerning the same. For those kerning every pair individually, use section 2 as well. Section 3 has pairs you just never find, except right here. Happy font designing!

1: Key kerning

Yvonne Texel Twice? ¡Velázquez! Yolo-Yugo Wahhabi Wojtyla Tacna Ygdrasil Vulpes Trixy, Rwanda Tshi Yreka Tupi-Txt Tzar Wray Wulk Yaqui Ave Aye Ryde Tye Van-Vril Wyow, Ypres Lvov. Lyle fizgig fjeld surfboat Foxcroft Atglen Kwangju Aesop. Cygnet L’Auxvasse Fafnir, Agfa Fuji Afghan Fry Fyn Fx Reykjavik Izhevsk Smyth Humvee Mosby, [Leipzig] Marcgravia Nagpur Mejlis Algy Uqqal eggcup Dnepr alefzero subqueue Kyrgyzstan ‘snifpif’ A’Akuluujjusi ‘Cruyff’ Antwerp Buzfuz Ffestiniog Struwwelpeter Xutqtu Benjy Bksp Capt Chukchi Dzerzhinsk Eikznorr Elkport {Gurkha} Gypsy Saxis Sylviidae Umpqua Zyzzx gulfweed rijswijk zugzwang Ashfield Aztec Bodhisattva Bzyb Celt Eads Eject Emlyn Gatzke Gciriku Gmail Gwyn Gzags Hnau Icard Ijma Jynx Kirwin Kshatriya Ljubljana Lucy Mizpah (Ondaatje) Pnyx Quixote Qajar Qyqy Selz Sium Svea Uvula Vliets Xxx sferics sgt fìnal affìne fluffle Sgraffito!

CATCHFLY KAAWA-AUXVASSE NOVGOROD, POTBOY SLOWWORM BLUFFDALE QWERTY. REYKJAVIK IZVESTIYA IXNAY UNBELT AGFA ‘OKTA’. BLVD LWEI XUTQTU, ‘UQQALV,’ ‘URUMQIV’ ‘RIVERVIEW’ BIXBY: BVLGARI BWANA HENRY DEBT; FORWHY? ELZGINLAZN DUMMKOPF PWYLL—AXSON BODHISATTVA CZAREVNA GAGZHUKZ HAJJS JIMJAMS ZYZZX ‘AFTMOST’ AHGWAHCHING ANNWN COXA CUCKQUEAN CWMWD DOGVANE JYNX MUNTJAC PNYX—‘PYGMY’ RAJBANSI AZTEC BJERKVIK BUQSHA CAPSFUL CNUT CYCLINGS DMOZ DUUMVIR ETNA GULFWEED IJMA KWANZA QMX RSVP, ‘SAVVY.’ SMYTH SSNIFPITDKA SUBPAR ‘TXT.’ YUCKY-ZUGZWANG.

2: Overkill

Aaron Ahgwahching Aimwell Ajo Apopka Axson Banquo Bixa Björk Bluffdale Brownville Bvart Byrd Cid Csar Ctesiphon Cuzco Cwm Czech Dabneys Delhi Dhaka Dipnoi Djin Dulce Dvina Dyess Eckman Efland Egnar Enzed Epps Esky Etna Eucha Eva Exmore Eyck Ezra Fhara Finly Fjord Georj Ghent Ginkgoales Gjætar Hai Hfuhruhurr Hlin Hrazdan Hsu Hwyl Hye Igo Ipava Iqbal It Ixnay Jadwin Jherry Jill Juda Kafka Kevlar Khios Knoxdale Kum Lahti Lhasa Lie Marx Mbabane McRae Mjölnir Mnemosyne Mtbaldy Mumford My Ndebele Ngoni Nice Nkrumah Null Nym Off Ogdon Opp Ostmen Otoe Ox Pan Perham Pfeifer PhD Piqua Pjotr Psalm Ptah Puck Pwyll Pym Qeshm Qingdao Qt Rb Rigby Rubbra Rx Shidler Spackle Suva Szach Tbilisi Tib Ufa Ugh Upson Urumqi Use Ute Uxbridge Uzbek Vic Whig Wis Xanadu Xema Xhosa Ximenes Xyris Yb Yipes Zahl Zhane Zim Zsigmondy Zuni Zwingle arcform batfowl buqsha calx cv czarevna damnify ecphova friwpbat gamb mothproofs musjid rajput rsvp sqrt sx szasz txt utpoppmif

Abu Acra Adna Amsden Anco Aoli Arvin Ashby Awk Axum Azle Bbxgxk Bhopal Blahkba Bwana Clay Cmene Cnut Col Dlo Dmoz Dolby Druz Dwale Ebro Edcouch Eek Ehrlich Ekwok Eola Equus Erda Ewigkeit Fez Fla Fnord Gawd Gdovka Glenpool Gnetum Goldbar Granby Henryville Hi Hmong Hobgood Houyhnhnm Hq Hz Iaeger Ibo Ida Ieyasu If Ihre Ike Ila Imlay Ind Io Iran Isom Iuka Ivy Iwo Iyar Jewry Jnana Jobs Jr Kamchatka Klimt Kohl Kru Lloyd Lodz L’Aqua Macbeth Macduff’s Marquis Merckx Newbolt Novgorod Oakdale Oban Occoquan Odd Oelrichs Ohio Oil Ojai Okta Olar Omro Oops Oqu Ord Out Ovid Owyhee Oxfam Oyens Oz Plainwell Poughquag Primghar Qigong Qoran Rheydt Rock Sclav Sidman Skipwith Slav Snowville Solway Squire Sri Strandquist Swazi Tariffville Tchula Thai Tlingit Tom Uab Ubly Ucon Udder Uehling Uh Uighur Ukiah Ulen Unio Uozu Uwchland Uzi Vhayu Vor Waxhaw Wells Year Ymir Zen Zorn abduce abmho abvolt acme ajwan aofmihdy arb awgquizm bhikku blowzed blvd bowfin bwana calque cuckquean cwm debt dib dogvane dummkopf dvandva dx endplay evzone explant fremd govt hajjs hamza hepcat hwan jhvh jimjams judjry knap kopje kvetch lacquer lebkuchen livre machzor mahjong mitzvah mobcap mudflows objet offcuts plowjog prajna pvc px pyjama’d qoph qwerty rajbansi reqd sabzi savvy sayyid selfhood sheqel slojd smutchy sri

AFTMOST AHGWAHCHING ANNWN COXA CUCKQUEAN CWMWD DOGVANE JYNX MUNTJAC PNYX PYGMY RAJBANSI AZTEC BJERKVIK BUQSHA CAPSFUL CNUT CYCLINGS DMOZ DUUMVIR ETNA GULFWEED IJMA KWANZA PWYLL QMX RSVP SAVVY SMYTH SSNIFPITDKA SUBPAR TXT YUCKY ZUGZWANG ABDUCT ABMHO ACME ADSORPTIVE AJWAN AKMED ALEFZERO ALNA AOFMIHDY ARBS ASDICS AWGQUIZM AXILS AXMEN BBXGXK BENJY BHIKKU BKSP BLOWZED BZYB CALX COIGN CV DJIN DOXY DUBNIUM EVZONE EXCIDE EZRA FILMGOER FJELD FLEDGY FNORD FREMD FRIWPBAT FYN GATZKE GEORJ GJOVIK GLENVIL GOVT HAMZA HERZL HOUYHNHNM IIXWKFIXL KLIMT KNOXDALE KOPJE LEIPZIG LJUBLJANA LOWVELD MEJLIS MERCKX MOTHPROOFS MUDFLOWS MUSJID NAGPUR NYM OFFCUTS OMNI PIBGORN PLOWJOG PVC PX PYJAMA’D RIJSWIJK RX SAYYID SGT SHIRLEYSBURG SLAVS SUBQUEUE SX SYRIA SZASZ TARIFFVILLE TWIDDLER UPGROWTH UTPOPPMIF UVULA UZSSAI VW WULK XXX YVONNE YWIS ZCJCXR ABFARAD ADNA AESC AFGHAN ALBA ALCYONE ALPS ANKHS AQUA ASHBY BANQUO BATFOWL BAWBEE BLACKFACE BLAHKBA BOWFIN BROUHHA BUZFUZ CALQUE CERRO CHAMFER CHUKCHI CRUYFF CWM DELHI DREE DVANDVA DWALE DX ECHT ECPAXPOQOL ECPHOVA EGGCUP ELROD ESKDALE EXE EXON FHREAMH FUJI GDOVKA GETGO GINKGOALES HANCOCK HEH HEPCAT HQ HWAN HZ IQBAL JHVH JNANA JR KAFKA KREMLIN KUYP LACQUER LATKE LODZ MCBEE MCCOMB MCDADE MCFALL MCGIRK MIZPAH MOBCAP MUDCAT OHIO OMRO OXFAM PIPKIN QESHM QOPH RAJPUT REDBY REDPOLL REQD RHEYDT RIGBY SLOJD SQRT SRI STRANDQUIST SURFBIRD TENGKU TORQUEY UMPQUA UNFITLY UNPEG UPDO UWCHLAND UZBEK VB VELÁZQUEZ VRIL WAKPALA WOJTYLA WQHJG WREXHAM YEZDI

3: Criminally pedantic

Cjfxqxgxjvjxzjqjz tdkaf Kfqvqf Zcjcxr Iixwkfixl CJFXQXGXJVJXZJQJZ QYQ KFQVQFW Bc Bd Bf Bg Bm Bn Bp Bq Bs Bt Bx Cb Cc Cd Cf Cg Ck Cp Cq Cv Cx Db Dc Dd Df Dg Dk Dp Dq Ds Dt Dx Fb Fc Fd Fg Fk Fm Fp Fq Fs Ft Fv Fw Fz Gb Gf Gg Gk Gp Gq Gs Gt Gv Gx HX Hb Hc Hd Hg Hh Hj Hk Hp Ht Hv Hx Jb Jc Jd Jf Jg Jj Jk Jl Jm Jp Jq Js Jt Jv Jw Jx Jz Kb Kc Kd Kg Kj Kk Km Kp Kq Kt Kv Kx Kz Lb Lc Ld Lf Lg Lk Lm Ln Lp Lq Lr Ls Lt Lw Lx Lz Md Mf Mg Mh Mk Ml Mm Mp Mq Mr Ms Mv Mw Mx Mz Nb Nc Nf Nh Nj Nl Nm Nn Np Nq Nr Ns Nt Nv Nw Nx Nz Pb Pc Pd Pg Pk Pm Pp Pq Pv Px Pz QC QG QK QL QN QP QZ Qb Qc Qd Qf Qg Qh Qj Qk Ql Qm Qn Qp Qq Qr Qs Qv Qw Qx Qz Rc Rd Rf Rg Rj Rk Rl Rm Rn Rp Rq Rr Rs Rt Rv Rz Sb Sd Sf Sj Ss Sx Td Tf Tg Tj Tk Tm Tn Tp Tq Tt Tv Uj Uu Uy VF VM VX Vb Vc Vd Vf Vg Vj Vk Vm Vn Vp Vq Vs Vt Vv Vw Vx Vy Vz WX Wb Wc Wd Wf Wg Wj Wk Wl Wm Wn Wp Wq Ws Wt Wv Ww Wx Wz Xb Xc Xd Xf Xg Xj Xk Xl Xm Xn Xo Xp Xq Xr Xs Xt Xv Xw Xz Yc Yd Yf Yh Yj Yk Yl Yn Yq Ys Yt Yw Yx Yy Yz Zb Zd Zf Zg Zj Zk Zl Zm Zn Zp Zq Zr Zt Zv Zx Zz hx jg mx qc qg qh qk ql qm qn qp qz vf vm vx wq wx!

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