Make your content more easy to read with the use of line-height and letter-spacing properties

The feel and look of text are both important.

Sometimes we look at a webpage and although the colors are great, the fonts much, and images are unique we feel that something is off.

Why is that? Probably, it’s how it’s spaced.

That’s where line-height and letter-spacing can make all the difference.

Line-height: Vertical spacing that’s easy on the eyes.

Let’s start with line-height.

Proper line-height is like giving your text room to breathe.

Insufficient spacing between lines makes your paragraph look like a solid block of text. We usually scroll past and overlook it completely.

Here’s a simple comparison:

The CSS:

Example of different line-height values in CSS.
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The HTML:

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Result:

Example of different heights of paragraph lines.
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NOTE - It's more flexible, and responsive to use unitless values (1.5, not 24px).

That way, if your font size changes, the spacing scales along with it.

Letter-spacing: Give your text room to breathe.

While line-height handles vertical space, letter-spacing deals with the horizontal space.

It controls the spacing of text, especially in headlines and all-caps.

Example of letter-spacing in CSS.
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Result:

Example of headings with different letter-spacing values.
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This slight change improves the visual appeal while softening the impact of bold headings.

NOTE: Use that feature carefully; overuse makes a page look weird.

Negative values are also permitted.

Example of negative letter-spacing value.
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Result:

Example of a heading with negative letter-spacing.
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But don’t overdo it. Letters that bump into each other create unreadable text.

Spacing is design

When design comes to mind, we tend to think about color combinations and shades and sophisticated fonts.

It is Fonts and Colors who get all the credit.

But what about spacing? Spacing quietly does the heavy lifting.

You might not think line-height and letter-spacing are important but get them wrong, and even the best design with great colors and fonts might feel off.

So play with them, find the right balance, and trust your eyes—because if it feels good to read, it probably is.

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