A method and system for optimizing the horizontal spacing of superscripts and subscripts in open type font designs is disclosed. The system includes a module for vertically aligning and spacing characters and a module for horizontally aligning characters having differing baselines in accordance with cut-in information stored in font tables corresponding to each individual character in the font. This additional horizontal spacing adjustment capability provides for optimum placement of character glyphs having differing baselines, e.g., superscript or subscript. The method includes placing a first/next character on a baseline, retrieving a next adjacent character, determining whether a cut-in associated with one or both of the characters can be applied between the two characters, and then applying the appropriate cut-in. Ascertaining whether a cut-in may apply may be accomplished by evaluating relative positions of adjacent glyph bounding boxes.