musescore / musescore/MuseScore

Request: Manual kerning in Title text

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feature request
Dominant language
C++
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Description

Your idea

Large text benefits from pair kerning + manual kerning. The largest text in MuseScore in usually the title text. I don't know if it addresses automatic pair kerning, but I would like to see an option for manual kerning of Title text.

Problem to be solved

A large font, as usually found in title text, readily shows the need for manual kerning.
Here are some obvious pairs are: To, Te, VA, AW, WA

Manual kerning will allow the scorist to improve the look of the Title text when auto kerning is unavailable or doesn't perform the task as needed.

Consider the following in Title text with Edwin fonts: WAVE
It looks like there's automatic kerning in effect, but to my eye lettering needs manual kerning to balance it:

I'd want to increase the distance between W-A and AV so the space in more congruent with V-E
   — OR —
I'd heavily kern the E until it slightly overlaps the E's left serif overlaps the V's right serif.

Example

Note, I did not create this example using the Edwin font, but the font used is reasonably similar.

MuseScore 4 Title Kerning

Checklist
  • This request follows the guidelines for reporting issues
  • I have verified that this feature request has not been logged before, by searching the issue tracker for similar requests

Contributor guide

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First steps

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Research direction

The issue names no files, tests, or entry points. Start by locating MuseScore’s title-text layout and rendering entry point, then determine how a user-facing manual kerning option could apply per-pair adjustments. Done means title text supports adjustable spacing between selected letter pairs and the result is visibly reflected in the score.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
cpp
Domain
design, desktop
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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