LengthAdjust

LengthAdjust is an attribute used in Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) to control how text is stretched or condensed to fit a specified length. It applies to text content within elements such as text and textPath and is meaningful when a textLength attribute is present on the same element.

The attribute accepts two values: spacing and spacingAndGlyphs. spacing adjusts only the spacing between glyphs (characters) to reach the target length, while spacingAndGlyphs allows adjustments to both inter-glyph spacing and the widths of the glyphs themselves. In the latter case, glyph outlines may be scaled as part of the adjustment.

LengthAdjust works in conjunction with the textLength attribute. If textLength is specified, a rendering engine may modify the rendered text to match the requested length according to the chosen lengthAdjust mode. If the actual text length already equals the target, no adjustment occurs. If textLength is not specified, lengthAdjust has no effect.

Practical use often involves fitting text to a fixed width within an SVG layout, such as labels along a graphic or a caption constrained by a path. The outcome can vary with fonts and rendering engines, since glyph scaling and kerning behavior differ across implementations. As a result, exact results may differ between browsers and font families, and developers should test across target environments.

See also: textLength, text, textPath, SVG.