Adjust character spacing and formatting

You can adjust the spacing between characters, and make text superscript or subscript.

Widen or narrow the space between characters

  1. Select a text box or just the text you want to change.

  2. Click the Text tab at the top of the sidebar on the right.

    If you don’t see a sidebar, or it doesn’t have a Text tab, click Format button in the toolbar.

  3. Click the Style button near the top of the sidebar.

  4. In the Font section, click Advanced options button, then use the arrows to change the Character Spacing value.

    The Advanced Options checkbox next to Bold, Italic, and Underline buttons

    The default spacing is zero. Increasing the value widens the spacing, and decreasing the value tightens it.

If you select just specific text: Your setting applies to all of the text in the text box as well as any text you enter in the text box after you apply the change.

If you select a text box: Your setting affects only the selected text, so any new text you enter won’t be spaced the same way.

Turn ligatures on or off for selected text

Some fonts include ligatures, a decorative joining of two characters to form a single typographic character. You can use ligatures if the font you’re using supports them.

Text with and without ligatures.
  1. Select the text you want to change, or select a text box if you want to change all the text it contains.

  2. Click the Text tab at the top of the sidebar on the right, then click the Style button.

    If you don’t see a sidebar, or it doesn’t have a Text tab, click Format button in the toolbar.

  3. In the Font section, click Advanced options button, click the Ligatures pop-up menu, then choose an item.

    The Advanced Options checkbox next to Bold, Italic, and Underline buttons
    • Use Default: Uses the ligature settings specified in the Typography window for the font you’re using.

      To open the Typography window, choose Format > Font > Show Fonts (from the Format window at the top of your screen).

    • Use None: Uses regular spacing with no ligatures for the font.

    • Use All: Uses all available ligatures for the font.

To remove ligatures from selected text, click the Ligatures pop-up menu, then choose Use None.

Make characters superscript or subscript

You can adjust the baseline of characters to make them superscript or subscript. A trademark symbol is superscript because it’s raised above the trademarked term. In a chemical formula, the number of atoms is subscript because it’s lowered below the symbol of the atom.

  1. Select the text you want to make superscript or subscript.

  2. Click the Text tab at the top of the sidebar on the right.

    If you don’t see a sidebar, or it doesn’t have a Text tab, click Format button in the toolbar.

  3. Click the Style button near the top of the sidebar.

  4. In the Font section, click Advanced options button, click the Baseline pop-up menu, then choose Superscript or Subscript.

    The Advanced Options checkbox next to Bold, Italic, and Underline buttons
  5. To adjust the placement, use the arrows to change the Baseline Shift value.