<kern> (Font Kerning)

This element specifies whether font kerning shall be applied to the contents of this run. If it is specified, then kerning shall be automatically adjusted when displaying characters in this run as needed.

The @val attribute specifies the smallest font size which shall have its kerning automatically adjusted if this setting is specified. If the font size in the <sz> element (§2.3.2.36) is smaller than this value, then no font kerning shall be performed.

If this element is not present, the default value is to leave the formatting applied at previous level in the style hierarchy. If this element is never applied in the style hierarchy, then font kerning shall not be applied to the contents of this run.

example: 
<w:r>
  <w:rPr>
    <w:sz w:val="22" />
    <w:kern w:val="28" />
  </w:rPr>
</w:r>

Even though font kerning is turned on via the <kern> element, the contents of this run shall not be kerned because that settings only applied to font sizes of 14 points (28 half-points) or larger. If the <kern> element's @val attribute was less than or equal to the <sz> element's @val attribute, then kerning would be applied: 

<w:r>
  <w:rPr>
    <w:sz w:val="22" />
    <w:kern w:val="22" />
  </w:rPr>
</w:r>

Parent Elements

<rPr> (§2.7.8.1); <rPr> (§2.3.1.29); <rPr> (§2.5.2.26); <rPr> (§2.3.2.25); <rPr> (§2.3.2.26); <rPr> (§2.7.4.4); <rPr> (§2.3.1.30); <rPr> (§2.9.26); <rPr> (§2.5.2.27); <rPr> (§2.7.5.2)

Attributes

Description

<val> (Half Point Measurement)

Specifies a positive measurement specified in half-points (1/144 of an inch).

The contents of this attribute value are interpreted based on the context of the parent XML element.

example: 
<w:rPr>
  <w:sz w:val="28" /> 
</w:rPr>

The value of the @val attribute is the font size of the run's contents.

However, consider the following fragment:

<w:rPr>
  <w:kern w:val="30" />
</w:rPr>

In this case, the value in the @val attribute is the minimum size for which font characters shall be automatically kerned.

In each case, the value is interpreted in the context of the parent element. ]

The possible values for this attribute are defined by the ST_HpsMeasure simple type (§2.18.48).

The following XML Schema fragment defines the contents of this element:

<complexType name="CT_HpsMeasure">
	<attribute name="val" type="ST_HpsMeasure" use="required"/>
</complexType>