PDF (adobe.com)

Enter text along a path

  1. Do one of the following:

    • To create horizontal text along a path, select the Type tool  or the Type On A Path tool .

    • To create vertical text along a path, select the Vertical type tool  or the Vertical Type On A Path tool .

  2. (Optional) Set text-formatting options in the Control panel, Character panel, or Paragraph panel.
  3. Position the pointer on the path, and click. (It doesn’t matter if the path has stroke or fill attributes, because Illustrator automatically removes them.)
    Note: If the path is closed, rather than open, you must use the Type On A Path tool.
  4. Enter the text.
  5. When you finish entering text, click the Selection tool  to select the type object. Alternatively, Ctrl‑click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac OS) the text.

If you enter more text than can fit within an area or along a path, a small box containing a plus symbol (+) appears near the bottom of the bounding area.

Example of overflow text

You can resize the text area or extend the path to display the overflow text. You can also thread the text into another object.

For a video on creating type on a path, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0046. For more information about working with type in Illustrator, see the Working with Type white paper at www.adobe.com/go/learn_ai_type.