Moving single letters with the Letter mover in Vectornation
The Letter mover (Shift+T) in Vectornation by Zaweba moves, scales or turns one character at a time while the text stays editable. How to use it for lettering.
Logos and headlines often need one letter treated differently: a capital that sits a little lower, a letter that tilts for a sense of movement, or a character enlarged so it links with its neighbour. The usual way to get that is to convert the text to outlines and move pieces by hand, after which the text cannot be edited. The Letter mover in Vectornation by Zaweba does the same job while the text stays live.
What the Letter mover does
Pick the Letter mover with Shift+T. Click a single character in a piece of text and you can move it, scale it or turn it on its own, without affecting the letters around it. The text remains real text: you can still change the wording, the font or the size, and the adjustments stay with their characters.
Arrow keys nudge the selected character in small steps, which is the best way to make fine adjustments to the position of a letter.
Reset when you need to
The options bar has Reset character and Reset all characters. Reset character puts the selected letter back where the text engine would normally place it, at its normal size and angle. Reset all characters does the same for every letter you have adjusted in that text.
These make it safe to experiment. Try a playful arrangement, and if it does not work, reset and start again without retyping anything.
Good uses for it
Wordmarks are the obvious case. A brand name often looks better with a letter nudged to balance a gap, or one character raised or lowered to create a rhythm. With the Letter mover you can do this and still change the typeface later if the client wants to see options.
Headlines on posters and covers can use it too. A slightly rotated letter or two can make a title feel hand set and lively, while staying crisp and editable.
It is also handy for fixing awkward pairs in display type where moving one letter is easier than adjusting spacing across a range.
Working carefully
Small changes go a long way. A letter turned a few degrees can look energetic; one turned a lot can look like an error. Nudge with the arrow keys rather than dragging when you want precision.
Keep the size of adjusted letters consistent with the rest of the design. An enlarged initial letter looks deliberate; letters of several different sizes can look accidental unless that is the style you are going for.
If the wording changes, check the adjusted letters. Edits still follow the text, but a new word may need the adjustments looked at again.
Letter mover versus other approaches
For spacing between letters across a whole word, the Character panel and kerning are better tools. For bending a whole word into a shape, warps and envelopes are the right choice. For one or two characters that need individual attention, the Letter mover is ideal, and it avoids the main drawback of converting to outlines.
If you eventually need outlines for a cutter or printer, create them at the very end. Until then, keeping the text live means changes are quick.
A note on finishing
Before you sign off a wordmark built with the Letter mover, look at it at the sizes it will be used, from small on a business card to large on a sign. Adjustments that look balanced large can look odd small, and the other way round. Because the text is still editable in Vectornation, refining it for each size is straightforward.
