Swapneel: what you want is "left justification", pushing the string contents up against the left side of the field you've allocated for them. Which means you add spaces on the right side, which is to say, the end of the string. This is achieved in Java string formatting using a '-' flag. Try something like String.format("%-32s", "jack").
He repaced his skull with glass. So you can see his brain. Kinda like this tiny ad:
a bit of art, as a gift, the permaculture playing cards