Today I want to share 2 ways to use the Type on a Path tool in Adobe InDesign. If you’ve been following along with my new series of beginner InDesign tutorials, you’ll love this next one!
Watch the tutorial below for a run-down of 2 ways to use the Type on a Path tool in InDesign. Or keep reading for the notes from the video tutorial, if you prefer to the read-to-learn methosd. And if you’re a fan of YouTube, click here to subscribe to my channel for more design tutorials and tips!
First up, I’ll draw a wavy line using the Pen tool. Click once to place the first anchor point, I hold the Shift key as I click to place the second anchor point to keep it aligned with the first point. Click and drag your mouse up to the right to make a nice even curve. Click again for the third anchor point, holding the Shift key again, to complete your wavy line.
Next, click and hold the Type tool until the drop-down appears with more options. From there, click Type on a Path Tool.
Then hover over your wavy line until you see a plus sign appear with your cursor, then click once. Now you can start typing on your wavy line, and your type will follow the exact path of the line.
Then you can remove the stroke color on your wavy line, and you’re left with your fun wavy line of text.
Second – you can do the same with the shape tool, and have your text follow the outline of a shape, rather than just a line. So I’ll click and hold the Rectangle Shape tool to show more options, and select the Oval. I’ll click and drag my mouse to draw an oval shape.
Then I can follow the same steps – click the Type on a Path Tool, hover over the edge of your shape until you see a plus sign appear with your cursor, then click once. Now start typing, and your text will follow the curve of your oval or circle.
Remove the stroke color on your shape, and you’re left with a perfectly curved line of text.
Lastly, you can adjust where your text starts and stops on your shape by clicking and dragging these crosslines on each end of the shape and moving them around. You can use these to better center your text on your curve, or even flip your text to the inside of your shape and curve in the opposite direction.
So there you have it – type on a path 2 ways – with a wavy line or a circle to bring your text to life!
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