Web app · 2026
Kernz-o-matic
Look at any logo: the gaps between its letters aren't all the same width. They only look even, because someone nudged every pair by eye. That nudging is kerning, and the practice games all use their words, not yours. So I built Kernz-o-matic: drop in a logo, drag the letters until it looks right, then see how close you got.
- Drop in a logo and drag the middle letters.
- Reveal: your spacing in white over the model's in blue.
- Every gap explains itself, with do and don't from your letters.
- Fused letters? Split the box before the game starts.
Paste a picture of a word and it finds each letter on its own. Only the middle letters move; the ends stay put, so you're balancing the word, not stretching it. Drag until the gaps feel even, then press Reveal.
Your spacing shows in white. Underneath, in blue, is where a letter-spacing formula would have put the letters. There are four formulas to switch between, because there isn't one right answer. Where they agree, the tool says so. Where they don't, it admits the answer is a range and leaves the call to your eye. Hover any gap and a card explains why that pair is awkward (an A beside a V traps a wedge of air), with a do and a don't built from your own letters.
Blur softens the word so you judge the rhythm instead of reading it; Flip turns it upside down. Both are old designer tricks.
What it taught me: spacing is a range, not a point. The score and the hints now read from one shared judgement, because an early version painted a word all green and still scored it in the sixties.
