Change character spacing on UILabel within Interface Builder

Is there anyway to change the character spacing (track) on UILabel text using Interface Builder? If not, is there a way to do it programmatically on an existing UILabel that was already created with attributed text?

Solution 1:

I know it's not an Interface Builder solution, but you can create a UILabel extension and then add spacing to any UILabel you want:

extension UILabel {
  func addCharacterSpacing(kernValue: Double = 1.15) {
    guard let text = text, !text.isEmpty else { return }
    let string = NSMutableAttributedString(string: text)
    string.addAttribute(NSAttributedString.Key.kern, value: kernValue, range: NSRange(location: 0, length: string.length - 1))
    attributedText = string
  }
}

Consider changing the default kernValue from 1.15 to something that works better with your design.

When implementing always add character spacing after setting the text value:

myLabel.text = "We used to be so close"
myLabel.addCharacterSpacing()

If you plan to have different spacing at different places in the app, you can override the default kern value:

myLabelWithSpecialNeeds.addCharacterSpacing(kernValue: 1.3)

This solution overrides any other attributes you might have on your UILabel's attributedText.

Solution 2:

Ended up using this for now to get existing attributed text and modify to add character spacing:

let attributedString = discoveryTitle.attributedText as NSMutableAttributedString
attributedString.addAttribute(NSKernAttributeName, value: 1.0, range: NSMakeRange(0, attributedString.length))
discoveryTitle.attributedText = attributedString

Swift 3:

let attributedString = NSMutableAttributedString(string: discoveryTitle.text)
attributedString.addAttribute(NSKernAttributeName, value: CGFloat(1.0), range: NSRange(location: 0, length: attributedString.length))
discoveryTitle.attributedText = attributedString

Using NSRange instead of NSMakeRange works in Swift 3.

Solution 3:

For completely static text, like the header of a view or especially the launchScreen, you can insert letters that take up a tiny amount of width (e.g. the 'l' character) with 0 opacity. Alternatively set its color to the same as background.

I am aware of the fact, that is not the prettiest solution, but it is the only solution that works without writing any code and does the job - until you can do it by specifying the attributes in Xcode.

Edit / Additional idea: To make your spacing even more variable you can change the font size of the filling charachters in between. (Thanks to @mohamede1945 for that idea)

Solution 4:

Swift 3.2 & Interface builder

extension UILabel {

    @IBInspectable
    var letterSpace: CGFloat {
        set {
            let attributedString: NSMutableAttributedString!
            if let currentAttrString = attributedText {
                attributedString = NSMutableAttributedString(attributedString: currentAttrString)
            }
            else {
                attributedString = NSMutableAttributedString(string: text ?? "")
                text = nil
            }

            attributedString.addAttribute(NSKernAttributeName,
                                           value: newValue,
                                           range: NSRange(location: 0, length: attributedString.length))

            attributedText = attributedString
        }

        get {
            if let currentLetterSpace = attributedText?.attribute(NSKernAttributeName, at: 0, effectiveRange: .none) as? CGFloat {
                return currentLetterSpace
            }
            else {
                return 0
            }
        }
    }
}

Solution 5:

Swift 5 and higher

extension UILabel {
  func setTextSpacingBy(value: Double) {
    if let textString = self.text {
      let attributedString = NSMutableAttributedString(string: textString)
      attributedString.addAttribute(NSKernAttributeName, value: value, range: NSRange(location: 0, length: attributedString.length - 1))
      attributedText = attributedString
    }
  }
}