decorative banner

Adjusting spacing using the keyboard


    You can set the increments in which baseline shift and kerning/tracking values increase or decrease when you use keyboard shortcuts. The default key increment values are 2 points for size/leading, 2 points for baseline shift, and 20/1000 of an em space for kerning/tracking.

    Settings in the Type & Auto Tracing Preferences and General Preferences dialog boxes control the keyboard shortcuts.

    The type units preference determines the units for font size, leading, and baseline shift.

To change keyboard increments:

  1. Choose Edit > Preferences > Type & Auto Tracing (Windows and Mac OS 9) or Illustrator > Preferences > Type & Auto Tracing (Mac OS X).
  2. Enter the values you want in the Size/Leading, Baseline Shift, and Tracking text boxes, and click OK.

To change the cursor key increment value:

  1. Choose Edit > Preferences > General (Windows and Mac OS 9) or Illustrator > Preferences > General (Mac OS X).
  2. Enter the value you want in the Keyboard Increment text box, and click OK.

To change type units:

  1. Choose Edit > Preferences > Units & Undo (Windows and Mac OS 9) or Illustrator > Preferences > Units & Undo (Mac OS X).
  2. Choose a type unit from the Type pop-up menu, and click OK.
  3. The default type unit is points (a point equals 1/72 of an inch). You can choose inches, millimeters, Q (a Q equals 0.25 millimeter), or pixels.