Customize My Type on a Path?

Want more control over how your type on a path works? Create a path, then add some text. There’s an additional trick to give you some extra options. Just go to the Toolbar and double-click directly on the Type on a Path Tool to bring up its options. One of the clever little options is the Effect pop-up menu, which you can use to apply different type-on-a-path effects, even after the type has already been placed. Caveat: I didn’t say they’d all look good, just that they’ll work. It all comes down to the font and positioning of the text, but you can create some cool effects with the right recipe of font and effect. You will also see alignment and spacing values. The Spacing value compensates for the way characters fan out around a curve or sharp angle—the higher values remove any extra space between the characters that are positioned on the angles or sharp curves. This has no effect on the characters positioned on the straighter segments. To change the spacing of characters anywhere along the path, select them, and then apply kerning or tracking via the Character panel. The Align value determines where on the path the type will sit: Baseline, Center, Ascender, or Descender.