Apply a text to a path
Sometimes it is necessary to bend text to mold to circular or arc forms. Previously this work was carried out in PhotoShop or Freehand as tools provided by these applications allow greater control of the outcome.
While this is still true the appearance of Indesign reduced the need to create curved text in other programs and then import them as image document. In event that the design requirement is text set to a curved shape the simplest way to achieve it is to draw the arc or curve, as the picture above shows, with the pen tool 
and then clicking Text to Path (Shift + t) 
selecting the newly drawn line.
Once applied the text to the path remain stuck at the same even if you change its shape
Now, if you need more control over the text, Indesign provides a dialog box from which you can change its behavior. Menu Text/Text to Path/Options… can make the following changes:
- Effect: Alters the way the body adapts to the arc formed by the path. For example, the body can be kept unchanged but varying their angle to keep perpendicular to the path (rainbow) deform so that the horn, or shaft, remain perpendicular to the horizontal axis, a mixture of both, etc…
- Aling: Specifies the interaction between the origin coordinates of the text: baseline, ascending, etc … and plotting coordinates: center, up, down.
- Spacing: has a similar effect to the tracking but considering the arc formed in each point of the path. For simplicity, the greater spacing fit more text inside the path. While spacing and tracking have a similar effect they are not incompatible.
To delete a text applied to a path you have to select the track and press the Menu Text/Text to Path/Delete text on a path.
It is appropriate also to note that it is possible to apply both normal text to a path so that the dimensions of the track to become the size of the text object, shown above, or also apply a text to path on an object text, since the container is considered a path itself. While it can generate very interesting visual effect when performing either of these operations, if done by accident can generate considerable confusion, especially if other designers will then use the same document. Especially if in the latter case is applied to one text object but then no text is not inserted in the path. The original text object is altered and his behavior is not normal.
A&8s
About mimoriarty
MiMoriarty 