Characters with or without spaces: which count?

If a publisher gives you a character limit, use the counting method in its submission instructions. “Including spaces” and “excluding spaces” produce different totals, and a request for “characters” alone may not tell you which one is wanted.

Check what text the limit covers, too. A publisher may count the title, captions, notes, or references differently from the main text. When the instructions are unclear, ask before you edit to fit a number.

What each character count includes

Characters including spaces

This count includes letters, numbers, punctuation, and the spaces between words. For example, the space between two words adds one character to this total. Depending on the counting method, line breaks and other whitespace may also affect the result.

Use this count when the guideline says “including spaces,” “with spaces,” or “characters including spaces.” It is often called a character count with spaces, or simply a count with spaces.

Characters excluding spaces

This count leaves out spaces between words but still includes letters, numbers, and punctuation. It is not a count of letters alone. A comma, period, or question mark remains part of the total.

Use it when the publisher specifically says “excluding spaces” or “without spaces.” Check whether its instructions say how to treat line breaks, tabs, or other whitespace. Counting programs do not all handle these in the same way.

Follow the publisher's exact wording

There is no single count that every publisher means when it asks for a character limit. Read the submission page, style guide, or form label carefully, and look for an example or explanation of what is included.

• “Including spaces.” Count the spaces between words, along with letters and punctuation.
• “Excluding spaces.” Do not count spaces, but do count punctuation and other visible characters unless the instructions say otherwise.
• “Characters” with no explanation. Do not assume the publisher means one method. Check the submission form or ask the editor.
• A word limit and a character limit. Treat these as separate requirements. A word count does not tell you whether the character limit is met.

Also check what material belongs in the count. A limit may apply only to the article body, or it may include the headline, subhead, author name, captions, footnotes, references, or spaces in a URL. If the instructions do not say, ask which sections count.

Check the count in the file you will submit

1. Use the publisher's stated method to count the text in your draft. If your writing program provides both character totals, select the one that matches the instructions.
2. If you are submitting a PDF, use PDF Text Counter to count characters in the whole file, selected pages, or page by page.
3. Check that the tool's count matches the publisher's definition. If the tool does not specify whether spaces are included, do not treat its result as a confirmed with-spaces or without-spaces total.
4. Check the final exported file again. Exporting, editing, or adding a title page can change which text is present and what the publisher receives.

Use the document editor's own character count when you are submitting a document file rather than a PDF. If its label is unclear, compare a short sample with the publisher's instructions or ask the editor what the count includes.

Watch for text that a PDF count can miss

A PDF can contain selectable text, or it can be a picture of a page. A text counter may not read words that are only visible as an image, such as text in a scan. If the result looks far too low, try selecting a line in the PDF and copying it. If you cannot select the words, the document may need text recognition before it can be counted reliably. See why a scanned PDF can count as empty.

Even when the text is selectable, a PDF's extracted text may not match the reading order you see on the page. Headers, footers, columns, or line breaks can affect extraction. Review the pages and compare the count with your source document if the total is close to the limit.

Why two programs may give different totals

Programs may treat line breaks, tabs, repeated spaces, and nonbreaking spaces differently. A nonbreaking space looks like a normal space but keeps two words together at the end of a line. If the publisher's limit is strict, ask whether these count as spaces and whether line breaks are included.

Some symbols can also be represented in more than one way inside a file. Accented letters, combined marks, and emoji may therefore produce different totals in different software. If your submission uses unusual symbols or the count is exactly at the limit, use the publisher's preferred system or ask which count to trust.

Leave a small margin below the maximum when you can. That gives you room for differences in whitespace handling or a title and other material that the publisher counts separately.