CSS: How to Create Space Between Letters (Letter Spacing)

Want to improve the readability or style of your text? Adjusting the space between letters—also known as letter spacing—is an easy yet powerful way to give your typography a polished look.

In this blog, you’ll learn:

• ✅ How to add space between letters using CSS
• 🧪 Real examples with different text elements
• 🎨 Tips for improving design with letter spacing
• ⚠️ Common pitfalls to avoid

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✅ The CSS Property: letter-spacing

The letter-spacing property controls the horizontal space between characters in your text.

📌 Basic Syntax:

selector {
  letter-spacing: value;
}

• value can be in units like px, em, rem, etc.
• Use positive values to increase spacing
• Use negative values to decrease spacing (tighter text)

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🧪 Example: Add Space Between Letters

✅ HTML:

<p class="spaced-text">CSS Letter Spacing</p>

✅ CSS:

.spaced-text {
  letter-spacing: 2px;
}

✅ Result: Each letter in the paragraph will have 2 pixels of space between them.

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🎨 Styling Headings for Impact

Letter spacing is especially useful for headlines and titles.

Example:

h1 {
  letter-spacing: 4px;
  text-transform: uppercase;
}

✅ This gives your heading a bold, modern look.

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🔧 Acceptable Units for letter-spacing

Unit	Meaning	Common Usage
px	Pixels (fixed spacing)	Most common
em	Relative to font size	Scalable design
rem	Relative to root font size	Consistent layout

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🧠 Best Practices

• ✅ Use small values for body text (e.g., 0.5px, 0.1em)
• ✅ Larger values work better for headings and logos
• ❌ Avoid too much spacing on small fonts—it affects readability
• 🔠 Pair with text-transform: uppercase for stylish designs

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🚫 Common Mistakes

Mistake	Why It’s a Problem
Using % for letter-spacing	❌ Not valid — use px, em, etc.
Excessive spacing on long content	Hurts readability
Negative values on small text	Can make letters hard to distinguish

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🧪 Bonus: Negative Spacing

.tight-text {
  letter-spacing: -1px;
}

Use with caution — this reduces the space between letters and can be useful in tight UI designs.

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🧠 Summary

Property	Description
letter-spacing	Adds or removes space between letters
Positive values	Increase spacing
Negative values	Decrease spacing

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🏁 Final Thoughts

Adjusting letter spacing is a small detail that can make a big impact on the look and feel of your typography. It improves visual hierarchy, readability, and style — all with a single line of CSS.

Use it wisely and always preview across devices to ensure optimal readability.