From the course: After Effects Apprentice: 06 Type and Music

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Using hyphens and dashes

Using hyphens and dashes - After Effects Tutorial

From the course: After Effects Apprentice: 06 Type and Music

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Using hyphens and dashes

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In our final movie, I would like to compare the difference between a hyphen and a dash, and also the two different types of dashes. Now we all know what a hyphen is, but a hyphen is not appropriate for everything. Sometimes you need to use an en dash instead. Let's say you want to indicate a range from this year to this year. You wouldn't replace the word 'to' with just a hyphen. Even if you were to add a space on both sides, it still doesn't look right; it's too short. Instead, you would use an en dash and an en dash is Option+Hyphen on Mac or Alt+Hyphen on Windows. The rule of thumb is that you should use a space on both sides of an en dash. But you really have to watch the spacing, particularly when you are working with numbers. For instance, the number 1 always has a little bit too much space to the left and right, so you may need to kern the number one to get a good balance. So when using an en dash, at least have a half a space on each side. I usually like to tighten it up. If…

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