Type On A Path Options

Creating type on a path is a great feature of Illustrator and is quite handy when sprucing up your typography or experimenting. Annoyingly, the Path Type object always seem to have inconsistent spacing and just doesn’t look right. Luckily, Illustrator has some Text On A Path Options! With these options, you can change the Effect, Alignment, Spacing, and Flip.
Type On A Path Options Dialog
Select the Path Type object and go Type > Type on a Path > Type on a Path Options to bring up the Type on a Path dialog.

Effect
Chose from Rainbow, Skew, 3D Ribbon, Stair Step and Gravity to control the orientation of the type relative to the path.

Align To Path
Chose from Baseline, Ascender, Descender and Center to determine what part of the type lines up with the path.

Spacing
Chose a spacing value to create consistent spacing between characters on a curved path. A higher spacing value brings the characters closer to each other and helps with spacing issues.

Flip
Flip the side of the path which the text appears.


Andrew
June 4th, 2008
Handy tips to remember, thanks for the post. I love the site, it’s got a nice clean design!
gen
June 5th, 2008
wow, thanks for these great tips! I’ve always had issues when working with type on paths in illustrator..these tips will solve a lot of them!
LadyAngora
June 5th, 2008
nice to see these options spelled out so nicely… thanks for the tips!
plechi
June 6th, 2008
thx for this one, really great
wardhania
June 17th, 2008
heheh…. thats great
Alistair
June 22nd, 2008
been lurking for about a month, wish you had been around when I was just starting out, great resource for young vector designers and iconographers.
Will keep reading!!
Vandelay Website Design
June 29th, 2008
[…] Type on a Path Options from Vectips. […]
DAvid
July 3rd, 2008
Good VISUAL illustration of path on a type options!
Smashing Magazine
October 8th, 2008
[…] Type on a Path Options In this tutorial you’ll get a quick look at the potential of using type on a path. You’ll see examples of several different useful effects, with explanations of each. […]