If a .doc file has autokern enabled as a default style (via default document properties, or via style setting), then ALL of the text is kerned, regardless of whether other styles or direct character formatting turn kerning off. Round-trip as .doc using the .docx attachments attachment 133347 [details] (KERN_DocDefault.docx) and attachment 133349 [details] (KERN_enabledDefStyle.docx) from bug 107801, and notice that every line is auto-kerned - even the lines where direct character formatting should have turned it off. Note1 - this can only be tested in LO5.4 after commit ded07624096183ed310187f29d4692bb39b7d24a [tdf#105454: Stop ignoring font kerning setting]. Before that, kerning was ALWAYS applied. Use attachment 133346 [details] to see kerning working properly (in this case, the default style is off). Note2 - this only affects .doc, not .docx.
Confirmed in Version: 5.4.0.0.alpha1+ Build ID: 74d2e606fd3605fe0a585f596eaa215ae4e20d18 CPU Threads: 4; OS Version: Linux 4.8; UI Render: default; VCL: gtk3; Locale: fo-FO (ca_ES.UTF-8); Calc: group
Justin: since you assigned yourself, let's put the tracker to ASSIGNED :-)
Justin Luth committed a patch related to this issue. It has been pushed to "master": http://cgit.freedesktop.org/libreoffice/core/commit/?id=8a01fc2f505acc6ed9af5ba18049131225baad30 tdf#107931 ww8import: kern marker MAY indicate disabled kerning. It will be available in 5.4.0. The patch should be included in the daily builds available at http://dev-builds.libreoffice.org/daily/ in the next 24-48 hours. More information about daily builds can be found at: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Testing_Daily_Builds Affected users are encouraged to test the fix and report feedback.