STEP 1
Opening Notes
- In this tutorial, I will often give keyboard shortcuts for activating tools or commands. These shortcuts save a lot of time, and I use them constantly. When I give keyboard shortcuts, they will follow the tool or command names, and will be in parentheses.
- For simplicity and clarity, the bounding boxes have been omitted from most of the screenshots of vector objects in this tutorial.
- Whenever any tool is used, always reset the Tool Options to the default values, unless directed otherwise. Only the values different from the defaults will be listed.
- Three variation of the Text tool cursor are used throughout this tutorial - these variations are listed here for clarity:
| Regular Text Cursor
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| Curved Text Cursor
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| Edit Vector Text Cursor
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- Lastly, in this tutorial, I make the assumption that all vector objects are drawn from the top left to the bottom right. You really don't have to draw them like that, but if you do, things will be a bit simpler. So let's draw them from top left to bottom right:
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When one talks about placing text on a curve, whether it be an ellipse or a circle, there are 4 possible places for the text. Here are those 4 locations, with an example of each:
Text on top,
outside curve |
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Text on top,
inside curve |
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Text on bottom,
inside curve |
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Text on bottom,
outside curve |
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With curved lines, the text can either go above the line, which corresponds to text on top, outside curve, or below the line, which actually corresponds to text on top, inside curve.
Note: Though all the examples in this tutorial use ellipses, circles, and rounded curves, you are not restricted to round shapes when writing text on a curve. Everything in this tutorial works just the same on angled lines and other shapes, as long as they are vectors.
So, let's learn how to do each of these.
STEP 2
Let's start by adding text to the top outside of a vector curve. Open a new transparent image 300 x 300 pixels. Set the foreground material to color and the background material to transparent. Set the foreground color to whatever you want to use for the ellipse, and the background color to what you want to use for the text. I used dark blue for my ellipse, and black for the text.
Draw an ellipse using the Preset Shapes tool 
(P). On the Tool Options palette, use the default settings, with the following changes:
Retain style UNchecked
Once you've drawn your ellipse, choose Objects...Align...Center in Canvas to center the ellipse. Alternately, activate the Object Selection tool 
(O), right-click on the ellipse, and choose Align Object...Center in Canvas from the context menu.
Here's my ellipse:
Activate the Text tool 
(T). Most of the options for the Text tool are located on the Tool Options palette or ribbon located by default just below the Standard Toolbar at the top of the PSP 8 workspace. Colors, styles and material options are set in the Materials palette, located by default on the right side of the workspace. These 2 palettes along with the Text Entry dialog box which we'll see in a moment provide all you need for entering text in PSP 8. This is a big change from PSP7, but once you become accustomed to the new layout, it works wonderfully.
Set the background material to color.
On the Tool Options palette, use the the default settings, with the following changes:
Font - user's choice*
Size - uers's choice*
Alignment - center
*I used the Flubber font, with Size set to 24
The Text Tool Options palette is too long for most screens - it displays options grouped into bands, which you can minimize and drag within the palette. To display a minimized band, click its "more" or right-facing arrow, circled in the following image:
Another way to display a minimized band is to click and drag its expander handle, indicated by the red arrow in the following image. As you drag on this handle, the cursor changes to a double-headed arrow.
When you add text to a curve, you have the option of using either vector or floating text, but there are several advantages to using vector text. For one thing, you can easily change its properties, including size, style (color, pattern, or gradient), line thickness and type, etc., without re-creating the text. You can even change its position relative to the path or curve.
Notes on Text Alignment: In PSP 8, text is aligned in relative to the initial cursor position - where you click in the image to insert the text:
Align left aligns the left edge of each text line to the initial cursor position.
Align center aligns the center of each text line to the initial cursor position.
Align right aligns the right edge of each text line to the initial cursor position.
In the following illustration, the initial cursor position is at the very top of the circle:
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Left-
Aligned |
Center-
Aligned |
Right-
Aligned |
In the next illustration, the initial cursor position is marked with a red dot:
On a closed path (shape), if the text is longer than the existing closed path, the extra text wraps around itself:
On an open path, if the text is longer than the path, the extra text hangs from the end. The angle of the last segment determines the direction it hangs - it just sort of continues in the direction of the curve:
Once you have all your text options set, move your cursor to the curve. As you touch the line, the cursor changes to the Curved Text cursor (see Notes at beginning of tutorial), signifying you are about to write text on the curve. Click on the curve at the spot where you want the center of the text positioned. This will activate the Text Entry dialog box - the third element involved in text entry. Notice this dialog box is quite different from that in PSP7 - you've already set all your text options in the Tool Options and Materials palettes, so this box is for entering the text only. You can move the box around so you can watch as the text is entered on your image.
Let's type in some text and then check out a few of the advantages of using vector text. I typed "PSP is fun!", and clicked the Apply button:
Because I used vector text, I can easily change any of the text options. One way to do this is to select the text using the Object Selection tool (O), right-click on the text, and choose Edit Text from the context menu. This activates the Text tool and brings up the Text Entry dialog box with the text highlighted. You can change its color on the Materials palette, or any of its other properties on the Tool Options palette. No need to delete the text and do it over to change its characteristics if you use vector text.
Another way to edit vector text is to activate the Text tool (T) and bring the cursor over the text until it changes into the Edit Vector Text cursor (see Notes at beginning of tutorial). Click on the text to bring up the Text Entry dialog box with the text highlighted. Let's change the size of the text to 16 - yes, that's much better.
A third way to open the Text Edit dialog box to edit vector text is to expand the vector layer on the Layer palette by clicking the plus sign to the left of the layer button. Then double-click the text Layer Name button. The Text tool is activated and the Text Entry dialog box opens as before, with the text highlighted.
Personally, I find using the Edit Vector Text cursor (second way described above) the most efficient for editing text. Just remember to hover your cursor over the text until it changes to the Edit Vector Text cursor, or you'll be adding a new line of text.
Suppose you decide the shape of the ellipse is not just right, and you want it to be narrower and taller. Just select the ellipse with the Object Selection tool (O) and adjust its shape by pulling/pushing the handles on the bounding box:
Notice that the text shape is adjusted right along with the curve - no need to do it over again. With non-vector text, this does not happen. If you change the shape of the curve, you will have to do the text over.
Now the letters in the word "fun" look a little too close together. We can fix that by adjusting the Kerning.
Note: Kerning specifies the distance between individual letters of text. It is measured in 1/1000th of an em - an em being the width of the letter "m". Thus, kerning adjustments are font-dependent, and are determined by the font size. That's not just trivia!
Activate the Text tool again, bring your cursor over the text, and when it changes into the Edit Vector Text cursor, click on the text. Let's select just the last word (with the exclamation point) in the text by highlighting it in the Text Entry dialog box:
On the Tool Options palette, kerning was set by default to Auto kern. UNcheck that box now. You can follow the changes in your image on the workspace as you adjust the kerning value. Watch the letters in the word "fun" as you change the kerning to about 100. Isn't this neat? Once you have what you want, apply the changes - here's mine:
When you've made all the adjustments you think you'll need to your text, and you want to make additional enhancements using other PSP or plugin effects, just convert the layer to raster, and have at it. If all you want is a drop shadow, check out Tips & Tricks for adding a drop shadow to a vector object.
Note: Bear in mind that when you use vector text for text on a curve, the text and curve share the same layer . If you convert this layer to raster, you'll be converting the entire layer to raster, not just the text. Be sure to hide the curve BEFORE you convert the layer to raster, if you want it to be invisible. If you convert the layer with the curve still visible, it's there to stay.
As an alternative, you can duplicate the vector layer, convert the duplicate layer to raster, and apply the effects on the duplicate layer. Then you still have the vector layer (which you can hide) should you need further adjustments. I always save my images in PSP format with the original vector layers hidden, just in case...!!!
And there you have the essentials of writing text on a curve.
STEP 3
Now let's move on to placing that text at another location. The easiest one to show you is text in position 2 on the original list - that is, text at the top of the curve, but just below the curve line. I'm starting out with the text from the last step, which I'll move below the line. This is really very simple, and is accomplished by adjusting the Leading parameter in the Text Entry dialog.
Note: Leading (pronounced "ledding" - just a bit of trivia!) specifies the amount of vertical space between lines of text, and, like kerning, is measured in ems.
By adjusting the leading value, we can effectively move our text either up or down. Use positive leading values to place text above the path, and negative values to place text below the path. In this case, we want to move it down, so activate the Text tool (T), click on the text, and let's see what happens when we make these adjustments. I changed my leading value to -1000 (negative 1000), which moved the text just below the curve:
You'll have to experiment with the leading value for your text until you get it just where you want it. I tried a leading value of -800 (negative 800) - this moved the text so the top edge of the lower case letters was just below the curve. A leading value of -1200 (negative 1200) left a small space between the curve and the text, but the text seemed a bit too squashed. Watch what happens on your canvas as you make the adjustments to the leading on the Tool Options palette.
You might notice the letters have become somewhat crowded, so click on the text again, and this time, adjust the kerning to space them out a bit better. I changed my kerning to 200 for the whole line, then added 5 or 6 spaces (using the spacebar) after the text to get the placement I wanted:
Suppose you need text both above and below the curve. A single curve can only support one text line. If you want other text above the curve, just duplicate the layer you have. Make sure the duplicate layer is the active layer, and choose the Text tool (T).
Adjust the leading on the duplicate layer back to 0, or perhaps even to 500 to leave some space between the lines. I also adjusted the kerning back to 0, as I didn't need all that extra space between letters. Click on the text to activate the Text Entry dialog, and change the text to "Let's do graphics!":
Another way of getting a second curve for the 2nd line of text is to highlight the ellipse sublayer in the Layer palette (or select the ellipse with the Object Selection tool), right-click, and choose Copy, then right-click again and choose Paste New Vector Selection. You can do this either on the Layer palette, or on the image - either way works. The new ellipse is "stuck" to your cursor. Move it over the first ellipse and click to drop it in place.
To get the 2nd ellipse positioned EXACTLY over the first, activate the 2 ellipse sublayers in the Layer palette, holding down the SHIFT key. Now choose Objects...Align...Center in Canvas.
If your first ellipse is not in the center of the canvas, and you don't want it moved to the center, you can still align the 2 ellipses perfectly. Choose Objects...Align...Vertical Center and then Objects...Align...Horizontal Center, and they're lined up perfectly.
Note: The first object you select becomes the "target" image - the other objects move until their edges or centers are aligned to the edges or centers of the target. So, be careful which sublayer you select first when you activate the ellipse sublayers. Of course, there's always the UNDO function if you get it wrong.
Now, with the second ellipse selected, add your text.
Note: If you get the Edit Vector Text cursor instead of the Curved Text cursor, you have the wrong layer active. Go to your layer palette and activate the copied layer (it will most probably be the topmost sublayer of the vector layer you've been working on) by clicking on its Layer Name button.
You might be thinking you could have created this effect more simply just by typing 2 lines of text originally. But, no, this won't work with text on a curve. You can only type one line of text per curve. If you use the carriage return and type a second line of text, either vector or floating (raster), PSP ignores the carriage return and places all the text on the same line.
I should note here that with raster text, you can add several separate text images or layers to a curve - the "one curve, one line of text" rule does not apply to raster text. However, you cannot edit the text as you can with vector text, so if you don't have it exactly right the first time - wrong color, wrong size, wrong font, etc. - your only option is to delete and start over.
STEP 4
Let's learn how to get that text to the bottom of the curve, either inside or outside the curve. Create a new image, 300 x 300, and add a vector ellipse like you did at the beginning of Step 2.
By now you know that if you can get the text to the bottom of the curve, you can adjust it up or down using leading. But how do we get it down there? Actually, in PSP 8, getting text to the bottom of a curve is simple. Just reverse the contour of the curve before applying the text. To do this in PSP 8, choose the Pen tool 
(V) and select Edit Mode:
This corresponds to "node edit" in PSP7. Select any of the nodes on the curve, right-click to get the context menu, and choose Edit...Reverse Contour (CTRL + R). Notice that when you do this, the direction of the node handles reverses:
To exit node edit after reversing the contour of the curve, click on any other tool. Now add your text, resetting kerning and leading to 0. Just click on the spot on the bottom of the ellipse where you want your text centered, and enter the text. To get text below the curve, use a negative leading value. Here's an example on which I used a leading of -1000 (negative 1000):
This is so much simpler than it was in PSP7 - just create the curve, reverse the contour, and add the text to the bottom of the curve.
STEP 5
That just about covers everything, except what to do when you have vector text already there, and you decide you need to get that text formatted along a curve. Do you need to delete the text and start all over with a shape, to which you add the text? Not if you've been using vector text!
Let's look at an example. Suppose I have this text, and I'd like it to follow the shape that's below it:
No problem, since both the text and curve are vector objects! Press the SHIFT key, and using the Object Selection tool, click on both the text and the curve to group them:
Choose Objects...Fit Text to Path (or right-click on the group and choose Fit Text to Path from the context menu), and look what happens.
Amazing, isn't it? Now with some adjustments to the kerning in the word "cherries", we've got it.
Note:The text will be oriented on the curve as it was when you originally created it: left-, center-, or right-aligned using the start and end nodes of the path. Left-aligned text begins at the start node; center-aligned text is placed equidistant between the start and end nodes; and right-aligned text ends at the end node. If you want to adjust the text either to the right or left, try adding a few spaces before or after the text.
Should you decide to retain the curve as part of the design, use a positive leading value to raise the text above the line. In this image, I used a leading value of 250 and applied a kerning value of 150 to the word "cherries":
Note: Bezier lines are done very differently in PSP 8. To make the curved, or Bezier line shown above, check out the "Bezier Lines" article on my PSP Tips & Tricks - Version 8 page!
STEP 6
That just about does it for text on a curve. There are other things you can do with the text itself, but those adjustments involve vector editing, and are beyond the scope of this tutorial. But there is one more thing you might want to do that involves curves and text.
Suppose you want to add text to a vector shape, but you don't want it to run around the shape. If you try to add the text, your cursor automatically converts to the Curved Text cursor. But if you activate the Text tool (T) and press the ALT key while selecting the location for your text, you won't get the Curved Text cursor and you can add text that will run straight over, not around, the shape.
For instance, if I attempt to add text starting in the center of this shape, my cursor converts to the Curved Text cursor:
But if I press the ALT key while hovering over the shape, I can enter regular "straight" text:
Who knows, maybe this fact will come in handy one day!
That's about it. I won't even attempt to summarize, as this tutorial contains a wealth of information. Hope you've discovered the wonderful flexibility, simplicity, and variety writing text on a path offers.
If you have any problems, comments, or questions, please do not hesitate to Email me.
