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One of the most common tasks that users perform in CorelDRAW is placing text on a path. Yet, this is also an area that is very frustrating to users. Once you learn a few tips, it really isn't that difficult and the results are very predictable. In this article, I'll explain how to get the most out of this useful tool in CorelDRAW 7 and higher. Note that I'll be using screen shots from CorelDRAW 9 so there might be a minor difference in the look of the buttons.
First we need a path. Probably the most common path is the circle so we'll start with that. Next, we need some text. This is where we have a couple of choices. We can either type the text separate of the path or, with CorelDRAW 8 and higher, we can type directly on the path. Let's just type some text separate of the path for now. You'll see our text and our circle at right.
Select both of the objects and choose the Text | Fit Text to Path command. You'll notice that your text was centered along the top of the path and that the Property Bar has changed to the one shown below.
Before we proceed much further, we need to decide exactly where we want the text. In this case, let's put it at the bottom outside of the circle.
The leftmost drop-down list controls the text orientation. The most common setting is the default and we're going to stick with it. Each of the other settings is fairly self-explanatory by looking at the example in the drop-down list.
Next comes the vertical placement of the text relative to the line. This is the setting that trips up an awful lot of users. Let's think before we choose a setting. If we want the text at the bottom outside of the circle, would it be above or below the line? Below, right? So we need to select the example in the drop-down that shows the text below the line. It's the second choice. You'll notice the text is now just below the line at the top of the circle. So far, so good.
Now we get to the setting that drives everyone nuts. The third drop-down controls which quadrant of the circle the text will be in. This seems simple so we'll choose the one that shows the text at the bottom of the circle. Seems simple enough until you see the result shown at right.
By now, most users have pulled out some hair. They will try the various settings we've already chosen and find that none of them get that darned text where we want it. Get ready to whack yourself in the head as the solution is just one click away. At the far right of the Property Bar is the Place Text on Other Side button. Note that CorelDRAW 7 and 8 spell it out rather than having the unrecognizable icon. Click it and you'll see the text exactly as you desire.
The important thing here is to remember that there are three settings that must be changed to get the text on the bottom. If you make all those changes, it will be perfect every time.
Once we've gotten the text in place, it is time to format it. But if you try to select the text with the Pick tool, you'll notice that it is selecting it as Text on a Path rather than plain old text. The key here is that we need to hold down the Ctrl key and click on the text a second time. Now you've isolated the text and you can format it however you like right on the Property Bar or with the Format Text dialog box (Ctrl-T shortcut key). I'm going to choose a different font, Futura XBlk BT, and make the text a little bit bigger. Lastly, let's change the color to Blue.
In my example, I'm pretty lucky as the text spacing seems pretty darned good. But you'll often have some weird looking spacing that needs to be corrected. This is especially true when you have a more irregular path. In these cases, we'll need to manually adjust the character placement until we are happy with the result. To do this, first you need to isolate the text as we did when formatting the text. Then you want to choose the Shape tool (some of you probably call it the Node Edit tool). When you do this, you'll see a small square at the lower left of each character and you'll also see some funny looking arrows at the lower right and lower left of the entire text block as shown at right.
To quickly change the spacing between all characters, click and drag on the funny arrow at the lower right of the text block. It controls the intercharacter spacing. If you drag to the right, the spacing will increase while dragging to the left will decrease the space.
If you still feel like tweaking the text further, click on the node at the lower left of the character and you can drag that character along the path. You can even marquee select several nodes to move a series of characters together. Pretty cool, eh?
Now that we've finished the hard part, we'll repeat our steps to put text on the top of the circle. If you'll remember, this is the default setting. So you type the text, select both the text and the path and choose the Text | Fit Text to Path command. The other steps for formatting and spacing are exactly the same. Lastly, we'll import a quick image to finish off our project. My result is shown at right.
Once you've followed the instructions in this article, have you found that you now have a good grasp on how to create text on a path? Are you more productive when using Text on a Path? We think you'll will see a noticeable difference and would appreciate a little thank you in the form of a donation. Just click the button below and enter the amount appropriate to the value you've gained from this tutorial.
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CorelDRAW X6 Font List · CorelDRAW X5 Font List · CorelDRAW X4 Font List · The Terms of Adobe Photoshop and Corel PHOTO-PAINT · CorelDRAW X3 Font List · Cropping and Rotating Files in Corel PHOTO-PAINT · The Magic of Color Styles · CorelDRAW's Find and Replace Wizard · Shorten Your Design Time with Templates · CorelDRAW's Multi-Faceted Eyedropper Tool · CorelDRAW and Special Characters · The Easy Way to Create Calendars in CorelDRAW · The Wide World of Labels in CorelDRAW · Including Variable Data with Print Merge · Resaving, Resizing & Resampling Files in Corel PHOTO-PAINT · Creating Your Own Fonts in CorelDRAW · The Evils of Using JPEG Files · Speeding Up CorelDRAW 11 and Windows XP · Symbols and Imposition · The Easiest Way to Recreate Logos · A Few Guidelines to Follow · Square Corners Can Be Sticky -- Rounding Corners in CorelDRAW · Creating Complex Shapes Easily with CorelDRAW · Identifying the Mystery Font · Two Ways to Create a Split Front Design · Last Word in Font Management · Calibrating Your Printed Colors with a Color Chart · Graphics Computing in 2001 · Hottest R.A.V.E. In Town · Get the Red Out of Eyes · Secrets of Color Management · Dressing Up Your PDF Files · How Adobe Acrobat Can Make Life Simpler · Why You Want PDF in Your Workflow · Converting a Scanned Logo to Vector in CorelDRAW · Designing 360 Degrees · Customizing Your Interface in CorelDRAW 8.0 · Fitting Text to a Path · Creating Cool Graphs Without a Spreadsheet · From CorelDRAW to Macromedia Flash, A Simple Example · Getting Rid of That Darned White Box · Converting a Bitmap Logo to Vector in CorelDRAW · Finding Clipart with ROMCAT
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