Practical Typography Layout Skills

Learning Objectives

• Master the core elements of typographic layout: line height, letter spacing, and alignment
• Apply typography principles to improve readability and visual impact in your designs
• Build confidence with typography adjustments through hands-on practice

Introduction

Typography layout forms the backbone of readable, professional graphic design. Poor typography can make even the best content hard to follow, while well-adjusted type draws readers in and keeps them engaged.

This chapter focuses on three fundamental typography controls that every designer needs to understand: line height, letter spacing, and alignment. These might seem like small details, but they make the difference between amateur-looking work and polished, professional design.

You'll learn the practical skills to adjust these elements confidently, understand when and why to make changes, and avoid the common mistakes that trip up new designers.

Lessons

Line Height Control

Line height controls the vertical space between lines of text. Getting this right dramatically improves how readable your text appears.

Why line height matters:

• Too tight, and lines blur together
• Too loose, and readers lose their place between lines
• Just right, and text flows naturally

How to adjust line height:

1. Select your text block
2. Look for line height controls (often shown as a percentage or decimal)
3. Start with 1.5 times your font size as a baseline
4. Test readability by scanning a full paragraph

Practical guidelines:

• Body text: 1.4-1.6 times the font size works for most fonts
• Headlines: Can be tighter, around 1.1-1.3 times the font size
• Small text: Needs more space, try 1.6-1.8 times the font size

The key is testing how it reads, not just how it looks.

Letter Spacing Adjustments

Letter spacing (also called tracking) controls the horizontal space between all characters in your text. This tool is particularly powerful for headlines and short text blocks.

When to adjust letter spacing:

• Headlines that need more presence
• All-caps text (usually needs more space)
• Small text that appears cramped
• Creating specific moods or styles

How to apply letter spacing:

1. Highlight the text you want to adjust
2. Find letter spacing controls (measured in pixels, ems, or percentages)
3. Make small incremental changes
4. Check readability after each adjustment

Practical tips:

• Start with tiny adjustments (0.05em increments)
• All-caps text almost always benefits from increased letter spacing
• Avoid negative letter spacing on body text
• More spacing can make text feel premium; too much makes it hard to read

Text Alignment Principles

Alignment affects how your text sits on the page and guides the reader's eye through your content.

Alignment options and their uses:

• Left align: Best for body text and most content blocks
• Right align: Useful for captions, pull quotes, or specific design effects
• Centre align: Good for headlines, short blocks, or formal content
• Justify: Creates clean edges but can cause awkward spacing

Alignment best practices:

1. Choose alignment based on content length and purpose
2. Keep body paragraphs left-aligned for easy reading
3. Use centre alignment sparingly – it's harder to read in long blocks
4. Avoid justified text unless you can control hyphenation properly

Common alignment mistakes:

• Centring long paragraphs (makes reading difficult)
• Mixing multiple alignments without purpose
• Using justified text with poor spacing controls

Combining Typography Elements

Real typography skill comes from using line height, letter spacing, and alignment together effectively.

Creating hierarchy:

• Headlines: Tighter line height, adjusted letter spacing, strategic alignment
• Body text: Comfortable line height, normal spacing, consistent alignment
• Captions: Adjusted spacing and alignment to complement main content

Testing your choices:

1. Step back and scan the overall layout
2. Read a full paragraph to test comfort
3. Check how the eye moves between different text elements
4. Test on different screen sizes if designing for digital

Practice

Typography adjustment exercise:

Take a piece of existing content – this could be a flyer, webpage mockup, or document design.

1. Line height practice: Adjust the line height of body text. Try 1.2, 1.5, and 1.8 times the font size. Notice how readability changes.

2. Letter spacing practice: Take a headline and experiment with letter spacing. Try normal, +0.05em, +0.1em, and +0.2em. See how the feeling changes.

3. Alignment practice: Try the same paragraph with left, centre, and right alignment. Consider how each affects the reading experience.

4. Combination practice: Create a simple layout with a headline, subheading, and body text. Use different typography settings for each to create clear hierarchy.

Document what works and what doesn't. This builds your eye for good typography.

FAQs

How do I know if my line height is right?
Read a full paragraph. If you keep losing your place between lines, increase line height. If the text feels too spaced out, reduce it slightly.

When should I adjust letter spacing?
Most body text doesn't need letter spacing adjustments. Focus on headlines, all-caps text, and small text where spacing adjustments make the biggest difference.

What's wrong with centre-aligned body text?
Centre alignment works for short blocks, but longer paragraphs become harder to read because each line starts in a different place, making it difficult for the eye to flow smoothly.

Can I use justified alignment for everything?
Justified text can look clean, but it often creates uneven spacing between words. Only use it when you have proper hyphenation controls and can avoid awkward gaps.

Jargon Buster

Line height (Leading): The vertical space between lines of text, usually measured as a multiple of the font size

Letter spacing (Tracking): The horizontal space between all characters in a text block

Alignment: How text is positioned horizontally – left, right, centre, or justified

Hierarchy: Using different typography treatments to show the relative importance of different text elements

Tracking: Another term for letter spacing – the space between characters across a whole word or paragraph

Wrap-up

Typography layout skills develop with practice. Line height, letter spacing, and alignment might seem like small details, but they're the foundation of professional-looking design work.

Start with the guidelines in this chapter, but remember that good typography often comes down to what reads well and feels right for your specific content and audience. Trust your eye, but always test readability.

The next time you see great-looking text, take a moment to notice the typography choices. This builds your visual library and helps you make better decisions in your own work.

Ready to put these skills into practice? Start your Pixelhaze Academy membership