Typography beginner formalspaciousclassical

All-Caps Letterspacing

All-Caps Letterspacing example frame

Capitals opened up because they were designed to be spaced, unlike lowercase.

What it does

Roman inscriptional capitals were cut with generous space between them, so digital defaults set them too tight. Frederic Goudy's remark about the man who would letterspace lowercase is the standard warning that the same treatment ruins minuscules, whose rhythm depends on close fitting. Correct practice is to track capitals open, adjust individual pairs optically rather than uniformly, and leave lowercase alone.

The prompt

[Subject] set in letterspaced capitals. Roman inscriptional proportions tracked generously open, with individual pairs adjusted optically rather than by one uniform value so LA and TT sit evenly. Small size, ranged centre, a single line with vast space around it. Lowercase elsewhere on the page left at normal fit. Engraved black on cream.

Replace [Subject] with what you are shooting. Everything else is deliberate: the gear, stock and lighting are what push a generator towards this look.

Works well in

Ideogram, Midjourney, FLUX

Pairs with

Centred Axial SymmetryCopperplate Script

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