How To Use Type on Paths and Shapes in Photoshop
Getting Started
You’re probably familiar with the Shape, Type and Pen tools by now. If not, that’s OK. We’ll have quick refreshers for you along the way in this tutorial.
This Tutorial will Teach You how to create type that follows a custom path, or fills a custom shape in Photoshop. We’ll start with paths, and move our way up to filling and typing along shapes.
Type on Paths
Type on a path works very similar to your typical type tool in Photoshop. Once you get a handle on how to work with it, it’s very easy.
Step 1: Create a Path
Instead of just clicking to start typing, we need to create a path to act as our types baseline. Select the Pen Tool (
), and make sure that Paths (
) is selected in the Options Bar.
Draw a S-Curve path just to see how it works. When satisfied, hover over the path with the Horizontal Type Tool and click to start typing along the path.
Step 2: Adjust as Needed
From here, you can use the direct selection tool to modify the type along the path as well as the path itself.
Hover over the type along the path and take note to the various cursor states. You can adjust the start point for the path by dragging the starting point inwards, and you can do the same for the end point. You can also determine what side of the path the text can begin on (just remember that the path will always act as the baseline of the text).
When you’re finished with a path, Click the check mark in the right side of the Options Bar (Still using Direct Selection Tool).
Type in Shapes
Typing within shapes is just as simple as typing on a path. After creating a custom shape in photoshop, just click inside of the shape to start typing. The path creating the shape will act as a constraint for the type.
After placing type within a shape path, the path can be readjusted (ie: reshaped using the pen tools), and the type will automatically update to fill the new shape.
It’s also worth noting that you can type along the path of the shape as shown in the first part of this tutorial.
54 Comments
thanks very very much..
Flag as inappropriatevist for basic training of photoshop
Flag as inappropriatehttp://training4free.co.cc/Basic%20training/Basic%20training.html
Hey I tried using the method and it worked on the path. But when I tried to type text on a custom shape all the text came up like this:
http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/6587/testud.jpg
Any help?
Flag as inappropriatecool !!!
Flag as inappropriateI did it !!!!
:D
wow, really cool tut! helpful! tnx soooo much! (:
Flag as inappropriateIt looks to be a nice and useful tutorial but i am unable to complete it in PS7.0. Is this facility available in PS 7.0.
I will appreciate if lowest PS version with which tutorial features works is mentioned.
Thanks
Flag as inappropriategreat tutorial. it just one click.
thank u
Flag as inappropriateive tried it but i cant get it to work, and i did exactly what you did
Flag as inappropriatejust curious is there a way to have the path be on a marquee selection line?
Flag as inappropriatethnks
Flag as inappropriateo m qee.What an awesome tutorial dude !Sooooo cool !
Flag as inappropriategreat tutorial . Thanks524
Flag as inappropriategreat tutorial . Thanks517
Flag as inappropriategreat tutorial . Thanks512
Flag as inappropriatewow thanks so much.
Flag as inappropriateVery Good Yaar Nice Share !
Flag as inappropriateit worked!!
Flag as inappropriatebrilliant!!
Thanks 4 ur sharing !
Flag as inappropriateThanks for sharing mate, amazing effect ^^ a lot from mexico city :p
Flag as inappropriatethanks for the useful help…..
Flag as inappropriatevery cleer~
thanks,
Flag as inappropriateThis is really good technique this is great man! thanks a lot!
Flag as inappropriateI’ve tried countles times to use the eliptical tool to get my type to follow a circle and it doesn’t work. I’m using Photoshop 7, could this be the reason why?
Flag as inappropriateThanks alot :)
Flag as inappropriateDear David,
Flag as inappropriateI thank you for your help. It has been a long and hard task for me to make a simple sample. You made it easy. Thanks again
hey nice tutorial i was waiting for this one! but for typing along the shapes i cant type on the inside of the shape like the cloud at the end of the tutorial i can only get it to type on the outside of the shape
Flag as inappropriateThat’s Great！！！Thanks for sharing.
Flag as inappropriategreat tip! i love coming across useful little things like this, and i seem to always come by them on this site! i love the new design of it btw, very nice!
Flag as inappropriatethanks for the recall :)
Flag as inappropriatemaybe I read this in Dummies once upon a time :)
Great tutorial! Is there a way to take this a step further and actually morph the text into a shape (instead of having it fit into the confines of a shape)?
Thanks!
Flag as inappropriategood.
Flag as inappropriateThank you so much
very informative. Thanks
Flag as inappropriateThanks. Very nice article.
What about the Screenshot-tutorial for http://www.tutorial9.net/news/9-design-blogs-to-follow-in-2009/ ?
That would be really great
Flag as inappropriatefreaking sweet, thanks for sharing.
Flag as inappropriateAh, I was waiting for this after your CD tutorial. Thanks for the info, it seems so simple now.
Flag as inappropriate@pibo: I used CS4 for the demonstration, but there should be no differences from CS3 really.
Not sure I understand the second part of your question pibo. Maybe check the video one more time to see if that answers your question?
@Umer @Fire G: Thanks :)
Flag as inappropriatehi!
is ist CS4 or CS3?
Whats is it for a tool, under the Path-Selection Tool / Custom Shape Tool in this Video Tutorial?
Thanks!
Flag as inappropriateThanks for this David! Actually didn’t know about the Start and Ending anchors!
I love how your doing video of the processes now. Really helps show the process.
Flag as inappropriateNice I really almost forgot that. Keep on.
Flag as inappropriate@dsindk: This feature to the best of my knowledge was not implemented until Photoshop CS. I apologize for the inconvenience dsindk. If you have Illustrator, you may be able to create the type in that, and copy+paste it over to Photoshop.
Flag as inappropriateI tried this in photoshop 7 . why doesnt it work?
Flag as inappropriateWell, one of my reasons for getting this tutorial up so quickly after the Render a CD in Photoshop tutorial was to show folks how to get type to curve around a CD like I did in my result. You could give that a stab if you feel adventurous :)
Flag as inappropriateThanks for this David. I’ve done this in illustrator before but never thought to bring it over in Photoshop. I’m motivated to find an excuse.
Flag as inappropriate