Adjust Kerning, Tracking, and Baseline in GIMP

GIMP provides dedicated typographic controls directly within its on-canvas text tool, allowing you to manipulate letter-spacing, individual character kerning, and vertical baseline offsets inside a single text layer. By utilizing the floating text toolbar that appears over the active text box, you can apply these formatting adjustments to specific characters or entire strings of text without splitting your content across multiple layers.

Accessing the On-Canvas Text Controls

  1. Select the Text Tool from the Toolbox or press the shortcut key T.
  2. Click inside an existing text box on your canvas or click and drag to create a new one.
  3. Observe the floating toolbar that appears directly above or below your active text box. This floating editor handles per-character formatting, whereas the side dock's "Tool Options" panel applies changes globally.

Adjusting Tracking (Letter-Spacing)

Tracking adjusts the uniform spacing across a range of characters or an entire sentence.

  1. Highlight the text you want to expand or condense. To adjust the entire layer, press Ctrl + A while focused inside the text box.
  2. Locate the Letter Spacing field in the floating toolbar (represented by an icon showing the letters a b with a double-ended horizontal arrow underneath).
  3. Increase the numeric value to expand the space between the selected characters, or enter a negative value to pull the letters closer together.

Adjusting Kerning (Pair Spacing)

Kerning refers to the fine-tuning of space between a specific pair of adjacent letters.

  1. Click and drag to highlight only the second character of the pair you want to adjust.
  2. In the floating on-canvas toolbar, locate the same Letter Spacing field used for tracking.
  3. Change the value. Increasing the number pushes the selected letter (and all subsequent text) away from the preceding character. A negative value brings the character closer to the preceding one, tightening the pair without affecting the rest of the text block.

Adjusting Baseline Offset

Baseline offset shifts individual characters or words upward or downward relative to the rest of the text line, which is useful for creating superscripts, subscripts, or custom typography.

  1. Highlight only the character, word, or symbol you wish to raise or lower.
  2. Locate the Baseline Offset field in the floating toolbar (represented by the letter a next to vertical up and down arrows).
  3. Enter a positive number to raise the selected text above the baseline (superscript).
  4. Enter a negative number to drop the selected text below the baseline (subscript).