# Text has wrong/no kerning applied

**URL:** <https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/text-has-wrong-no-kerning-applied/83014>\
**Category:** Rhino for Windows\
**Tags:** rhino\
**Created:** [May 9, 2019, 7:46am UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/text-has-wrong-no-kerning-applied/83014 "2019-05-09T07:46:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![seltzdesign](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/seltzdesign/32/512215_2.png) [@seltzdesign](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/seltzdesign)\
**Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 7:46am UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/text-has-wrong-no-kerning-applied/83014/1 "2019-05-09T07:46:59Z")

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I am trying to use the Text command to create outline curves from text, I noticed that in the Text box the preview text has the correct kerning applied, but once you create the text it doesn’t.

Is there a way to create text with the proper kerning? Not having the correct kerning in the text it outputs means it is totally useless except for monospaced fonts. Using text that isn’t kerned correctly in anything is probably one of the highest sins in graphic/product design.

Here is the textbox with the preview and the result in Rhino. See how the kerning is wrong in Rhino where it looks like its just using the same value for all letters. In the preview it is using the correct font kerning values.

 ![text_kerning](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/uploads/default/original/3X/9/3/93aa65276799b8c445f6430f7facd0c134f56984.jpeg)

Is this just a bug or is Rhino not able to create the text it shows in its preview? Is there a different way to create text as geometry in Rhino other than importing an Illustrator file?

Here is a comparison between Text generated by Rhino (top) and imported from Illustrator as curves, which shows how wrong the one generated by Rhino is:

 ![text_kerning_illustrator](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/uploads/default/original/3X/1/e/1ee94aaac71a9bcbe91be3c6c743be731e32f840.jpeg)

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**Author:** ![seltzdesign](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/seltzdesign/32/512215_2.png) [@seltzdesign](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/seltzdesign)\
**Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 2:59pm UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/text-has-wrong-no-kerning-applied/83014/2 "2019-05-09T14:59:04Z")

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I think the only way to achieve this would be to use something that can already render the text properly. All solutions seem to rely on Rhino’s Text Object, which doesn’t handle kerning. I’m guessing the preview in the Text Box in Rhino comes from Windows and handles kerning properly.

I found this: [https://www.npmjs.com/package/text-to-svg](https://www.npmjs.com/package/text-to-svg)

Something like that would be great as a plugin and using the svg output. It specifically has a “kerning” input.

I know Rhino isn’t a graphics software as such, but for product design you would think that it should be able to produce proper text, for say embossing a word on a product or something. Having to produce the text in another software exporting and importing in to Rhino seems like an unnecessary step, when even Notepad can handle kerning properly.

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**Author:** ![Philip](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/philip/32/507608_2.png) [@Philip](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/Philip)\
**Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 8:02pm UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/text-has-wrong-no-kerning-applied/83014/3 "2019-05-09T20:02:37Z")

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> [@seltzdesign](#):
>
> I know Rhino isn’t a graphics software as such, but for product design you would think that it should be able to produce proper text, for say embossing a word on a product or something. Having to produce the text in another software exporting and importing in to Rhino seems like an unnecessary step, when even Notepad can handle kerning properly.

Yes, I think so too.

Philip

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**Author:** ![pascal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/pascal/32/479395_2.png) [@pascal](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/pascal)\
**Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 10:14pm UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/text-has-wrong-no-kerning-applied/83014/4 "2019-05-09T22:14:56Z")

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Got that, thanks.

[https://mcneel.myjetbrains.com/youtrack/issue/RH-52520](https://mcneel.myjetbrains.com/youtrack/issue/RH-52520)

-Pascal

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**Author:** ![brian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/brian/32/504171_2.png) [@brian](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/brian)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 6:25pm UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/text-has-wrong-no-kerning-applied/83014/5 "2024-11-06T18:25:34Z")

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[RH-52520](https://mcneel.myjetbrains.com/youtrack/issue/RH-52520) is fixed in [WIP](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/welcome-to-serengeti/9612)

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**Author:** ![seltzdesign](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/seltzdesign/32/512215_2.png) [@seltzdesign](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/seltzdesign)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2024, 10:50am UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/text-has-wrong-no-kerning-applied/83014/6 "2024-11-07T10:50:20Z")

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Thank you! Seems like the average time for a youtrack item is 5 years… noted. 😜