---
title: "Font..::.GetKerning Method "
canonical: https://www.graphicsmill.com/docs/gm5/M_Aurigma_GraphicsMill_Drawing_Font_GetKerning_2_14bec4c1.htm
product: "Graphics Mill 5.5 for .NET"
---

This documentation is for the old version. [Go to the latest Graphics Mill docs](https://www.graphicsmill.com/docs/gm/)

# Font.GetKerning Method 
 
Returns kerning value for given pair of characters.
 
**Namespace:** [Aurigma.GraphicsMill.Drawing](https://www.graphicsmill.com/docs/gm5/N_Aurigma_GraphicsMill_Drawing.htm.md)
 **Assembly:** Aurigma.GraphicsMill (in Aurigma.GraphicsMill.dll)
 
## Syntax
  
```
Public Function GetKerning ( _symbol1 As Char, _symbol2 As Char _
) As Single
```
 
```csharp
public float GetKerning(char symbol1,char symbol2
)
```
 
### Parameters
 
 - symbol1
     - Type: [System.Char](http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/k493b04s)
First character.

 - symbol2
     - Type: [System.Char](http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/k493b04s)
Second character.
 
### Return Value
Kerning value for given pair of characters.
 
## Remarks
  
Fonts can be divided into two groups - fixed fonts and variable fonts. All characters in the fixed fonts (e.g. *Courier New*) has the same width and distance between characters is always the same. Kerning for any pair of characters in such fonts is always 0. Variable fonts (e.g. *Times New Roman*) has more natural appearance: "narrow" letters like "i", "t", or "l" takes less space than "wide" ones, like "w", "M", or "O". Besides of that, distances between different pairs of characters varies. For example, when you draw "fi" with variable font, the distance between characters is less than when you draw "pi".
 
This distance between characters is called kerning. Kerning pairs are specified with font designer and even if font is variable, they may be defined not for all pairs of characters.
 
You can provide your own kernings when drawing text by supplying *kernings* argument in [DrawString(String, Font, Pen, Brush, Int32, Int32, Int32\[\])](https://www.graphicsmill.com/docs/gm5/M_Aurigma_GraphicsMill_Drawing_GdiGraphics_DrawString_7_8358ca31.htm.md) method.
   
## See Also

### Reference

- [Font Class](https://www.graphicsmill.com/docs/gm5/T_Aurigma_GraphicsMill_Drawing_Font.htm.md)
- [Aurigma.GraphicsMill.Drawing Namespace](https://www.graphicsmill.com/docs/gm5/N_Aurigma_GraphicsMill_Drawing.htm.md)