CSS: How to Create Space Between Letters

Letter spacing plays a subtle yet crucial role in enhancing the readability and visual appeal of text on a website. Whether you’re designing headers, buttons, or body text, adjusting the space between letters can give your content a cleaner and more elegant appearance.

In this blog, we’ll explore how to create space between letters using CSS, along with best practices and examples.

Table of Contents

🔧 The CSS Property: `letter-spacing`

The letter-spacing property in CSS is used to control the spacing between characters in a text element.

✅ Syntax:

selector {
  letter-spacing: value;
}

value: Can be in units like px, em, rem, etc.
Positive values increase the space between letters.
Negative values decrease the space (making letters closer).

🎯 Example 1: Add Space Between Letters

✅ HTML:

<p class="spaced-text">HELLO WORLD</p>

✅ CSS:

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

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

🎯 Example 2: Tighter Letter Spacing

To reduce the space between characters:

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

Use this carefully, as it can affect readability if the text becomes too condensed.

📝 Units You Can Use

Unit	Meaning	Usage Example
`px`	Pixels (fixed size)	`letter-spacing: 3px;`
`em`	Relative to font size	`letter-spacing: 0.1em;`
`rem`	Relative to root font size	`letter-spacing: 0.2rem;`

Using em or rem is recommended for responsive typography.

🎨 Styling Headings and Buttons

Headings:

h1 {
  letter-spacing: 0.05em;
  text-transform: uppercase;
}

Buttons:

button {
  letter-spacing: 1px;
  font-weight: bold;
}

This makes call-to-action elements stand out more clearly.

⚠️ Best Practices

Use larger spacing for uppercase text to improve legibility.
Avoid excessive spacing for body paragraphs, as it may reduce readability.
Test on different screen sizes and fonts to ensure consistency.

✅ Summary

Task	CSS Rule Example
Add space between letters	`letter-spacing: 2px;`
Reduce space between letters	`letter-spacing: -1px;`
Responsive spacing	`letter-spacing: 0.1em;`

Conclusion

Creating space between letters with CSS is simple but impactful. By using the letter-spacing property thoughtfully, you can enhance the visual clarity and personality of your website’s text content. Whether for branding, UI buttons, or headings, it’s a subtle touch that makes a big difference.

🔧 The CSS Property: letter-spacing