How to Flip Text on a Path in Illustrator.
Adobe Illustrator is a great graphic design program to use when you want to create editable vector graphics. Vector graphics can be scaled without losing detail, so you can make an illustration, including typography, that looks just as good on a billboard as it does on a business card.
Imagine that you are creating a circular icon or logo and want to enter text along a circular path. You might want the text at the bottom of the circle to flip to the opposite side of the outline so it’s easy to read. In this Illustrator tutorial, we’ll teach you how to flip text on a path in Illustrator so that the text isn’t flipped.
How to Flip Type on a Path in Illustrator
Whether you’re using Adobe Illustrator CC or an earlier version of Illustrator, a path is simply one (or more!) straight or curved lines. The path can be open or closed, depending on whether the endpoints are connected together.
We’ll start with a simple circle design. We’ll create a circular path and then use the Type Tool to enter text along the path. Finally, we’ll flip some of the text so that it appears right side up at the bottom of the circle.
Select the Ellipse tool.
Hold down the Shift key and draw a circle on the canvas. Holding down the Shift key will turn the ellipse you create into a perfect circle. After adding text, any stroke or fill color will disappear.
From the Type tool’s pop-up menu, select the Type on Path tool.
From the Window menu, choose Type > Paragraph > Center to center the text you’re about to type. The Windows shortcut for the Paragraph panel is Ctrl + Alt + T. Mac users can use Option + Command + T.
With the Type Along Path tool selected, click on the top of the circle created in step 2. Illustrator adds the text lorem ipsum parallel to the circle’s baseline.
Choose a font and character size from the Character tab in the Type panel, or display the character panel by choosing Window > Type > Character.
Enter the desired text at the top of the circle.
Next to the text, you’ll see three markers (also called alignment brackets): one on the left, one in the middle, and one on the right. Use these handles to rotate the text around until it’s in the right place.
Next, we will copy what we have and duplicate it. Using the Direct Selection tool in the toolbar, select the circle, then choose Edit > Copy or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + C.
Then paste what we copied in front of what is already on the artboard. Do this by choosing Edit > Paste in Front. Depending on the font you’ve used, you may notice that the text looks a bit darker because there are now two copies of the text in the path. An easier way to make sure you have two copies of your text is to look in the Layers panel. You should see two entries for your text. You can optionally rename one of them to indicate that it is a copy in front.
Turn off the visibility of the bottom layer in the Layers panel.
Select the Type tool, select the text on the path, and enter new text, the text you will move to the bottom of the circle’s path.
Now the most interesting. Open the Path Options dialog box by choosing Type > Type On Path > Type On Path. For the text effect, select “Rainbow” and from the “Align to Path” drop-down list, select “Ascending”. Also, check the “Reverse” box and click the “OK” button. (Check the Preview box for an expanded view.)
Note. For Align To Path options, selecting Baseline will place the text directly on the path. Ascender places the text outside the circle. Descender will find the text inside the circle. Finally, Center will place the text right in the center of the path.
Click anywhere outside the text to deselect, and use the handles again to adjust the spacing and move the text along the way to the bottom of the circle.
Then turn the visibility of the top text layer back on.
This is how you add and flip text on a path in Adobe Illustrator.
Insert a Symbol in Your Design
An easy way to add one or two extra elements to your design in Adobe Illustrator is to paste something from the Characters panel. Follow the steps below to add a symbol to your design.
View the Symbols panel by choosing Window > Symbols.
Use the “Symbol Library” drop-down arrow to view a list of all the libraries installed on your computer. Select one to open a panel where you can use the navigation arrows to browse through each symbol library.
When you find a symbol you want to use, drag it into your design.Use the Selection tool to resize the symbol to fit your design.
Adobe apps have all sorts of hidden features, like symbols, that you can only take advantage of if you know they’re there. We have guides on how to achieve many effects in Adobe Photoshop, such as how to add a border to images, shapes, and text, or use masks to hide layers, or even how to swap faces.
And if you’re starting out with Adobe Indesign, you should check out our tutorials on how to link text boxes or place text around an image.
How to Flip Text on a Path in Illustrator
How to Flip Text on a Path in Illustrator