Preserved Topic: Text Tracking in PS5

I am making a menu that will be across the top of a web page. The length of the menu is 585px's
How can I determine the tracking for each of the buttons so they will be an equal length across?
I want them to be an equal length apart from each other and not have the letters in each button look too spaced apart.
The text for the buttons are various length: Video Package

Well, your best bet is to turn on your rulers, then take the arrow tool, and drag out equally spaced guides across your canvas, so you can layout the widths and spacing of your buttons.

Once you do that, it's simple to type out the link names you want on the buttons, then highlight each section (click and drag across the word in the text dialogue window) and set the individual tracking for each one.

You can set the spacing between words with the spacebar, and then adjust those with your tracking as well.

If you mean that you want to do actual calculations as to what each word needs for tracking, then you might not enjoy the answer. To know how much spacing your tracking will actually give for each word, you'll have to know the kerning for each letter pair that font uses in the words, then work in percentages of the text size and..........

Trust me, it's exhaustive to think about. Just test a bit by highlighting and changing the tracking, and you'll soon get the feel for it with the fonts you're choosing and the size you're going with.

Hope it helps.

Peter




ICQ:# 10237808

Just wanted to offer another option...I don't know if I'm understanding this right or not, but how I'd go about it would be:
Create each text object on a seperate layer and make sure the text is centered. Position the first and last one where your edges fall. Then link all the text layers. Then go to LAYER>DISTRIBUTE LINKED> HORIZONTAL CENTERS. Then I'd mess with text spacing from there....

Thanks guys! I appriciate the help. You're right DG, the second option seems a little more envolved but the end result will only be as good as how much time you put into it (I just have to keep telling myself that )

Jeni>
You were right there with me...I have never used the DISTRIBUTE LINKED> HORIZONTAL CENTERS before.

Thanks again. I think that the outcome was pretty good. It's over in the site reviews if you want to have a look.






[This message has been edited by CPrompt (edited 10-29-2001).]