show/hide this revision's text 2 deleted 1 characters in body

You can do margin kerning (aka “protrusion”) and font expansion in pdfLaTeX simply by loading the package microtype (i.e., by adding

\usepackage{microtype}

to the preamble). I also suggest using the tracking options option for small-caps, which increases the space between letters (which is typographically correct, but only for small-caps and all-caps text):

\usepackage[tracking=smallcaps]{microtype}

For further information (and for several fine-tuning options) you can consult the microtype manual.

Edit: Yes, in my opinion and (I think) in a typographer’s opinion, these features do make a lot of difference. Margin kerning and font expansion help pdfLaTeX typeset the text, producing a lot less over/underfull hboxes. Letterspaced small-caps are also more legible and much more aesthetically pleasing.
show/hide this revision's text 1 [made Community Wiki]

You can do margin kerning (aka “protrusion”) and font expansion in pdfLaTeX simply by loading the package microtype (i.e., by adding

\usepackage{microtype}

to the preamble). I also suggest using the tracking options for small-caps, which increases the space between letters (which is typographically correct, but only for small-caps and all-caps text):

\usepackage[tracking=smallcaps]{microtype}

For further information (and for several fine-tuning options) you can consult the microtype manual.

Edit: Yes, in my opinion and (I think) in a typographer’s opinion, these features do make a lot of difference. Margin kerning and font expansion help pdfLaTeX typeset the text, producing a lot less over/underfull hboxes. Letterspaced small-caps are also more legible and much more aesthetically pleasing.