Illustrator would be incomplete without text capabilities. No matter if it's designing a logo, creating a headline and body copy for an ad, or creating a caption for a technical illustration, Illustrator can handle it. Text alone can also be a powerful way of graphic expression. Illustrator works with type in a variety of ways, and as we go through this hour, you learn where and when to use each one. Topics this hour covers include:
Just A Minute: Before we begin using the Type tool, let me remind you that there is an option in your Preferences dialog box on how to select type: Type Area Select. With Type Area Select activated you can select text by clicking with the Selection or Direct Selection tool anywhere within the type's bounding box. With Type Area Select turned off, you must click the baseline to select the type. If you have trouble selecting type because other objects get in the way, lock or hide those objects first, and then you can select and edit your type easily.
Illustrator has three types of text: point text, area text, and text on a path. To create text in Illustrator, you use one of the many type tools, found in the Toolbox (see Figure 14.1).
A multitude of type tools.
The most popular kind of text in Illustrator is point text. Also called headline text, point text is defined by a single point, meaning that justification (such as left, right, or centered text) is based on that one point (see Figure 14.2). Creating point text is also very easy: with the Type tool selected (T), just click a blank area anywhere on the page and start typing.
Although the points are aligned vertically, the type can be aligned to the right, center, or left of the point.
After you create the text, you can edit it by simply using the Text tool to click and drag on letters. This highlights the text (see Figure 14.3), and typing something new replaces the highlighted text. To simply add text to an existing block of type, click where you want the type to begin, and a blinking cursor appears, ready for you to add text.
The "T" is selected.
Area text, also called body text, is defined by a shape--much like QuarkXPress where all type must be within a frame (see Figure 14.4).
Type within a circle.
You can create area text in several ways:
Selecting the Area Type tool from the Toolbox.
Drawing a text box with the Type tool.
Dragging the Type tool icon over a path turns it into the Area Type tool icon.
If you have more type than can fit into the selected shape, a small plus sign in a box appears at the lower right of the shape (see Figure 14.8). The symbol indicates that there is more text that overflows from the shape.
The little plus sign symbol indicates a text overflow.
Illustrator enables you to link shapes so that overflow type from the first
shape flows into the next shape. You can do this by selecting the object with the
overflowing type, along with the object you want to link it to. Then choose Type
LinkBlocks
(see Figure 14.9).
Linked text blocks.
All this talk about linking text blocks reminds me about a wonderful feature in Illustrator called Rows and Columns. Although you can't create columns of text within one text block, you can create several blocks of type and link them. This handy feature makes creating rows and columns of type easy.
First, draw an ordinary box. It should be large enough to contain all of the rows or columns you want to create. Next, select Rows and Columns from the Type menu (see Figure 14.10). You are presented with the Rows and Columns dialog box (see Figure 14.11). Simply enter the number of rows (horizontal) and columns (vertical) and the gutter (the space between each row or column). The height and width are adjusted automatically. If you have the Preview button checked, you can see the rows and columns changing in real time as you enter the numbers (see Figure 14.12).
Choosing Rows and Columns from the Type menu.
The Rows and Columns dialog box.
The box before and after Rows and Columns has been applied.
To make life even easier, the Rows and Columns feature even links the boxes for you so that type automatically runs from one to the next (see Figure 14.13). By choosing from the Text Flow icons you can specify which direction the type should flow (see Figure 14.14). You can also choose to add guides, which is a great time-saving feature in itself.
After the columns are created, the text is placed in the first box, and runs its course through the linked boxes.
These icons specify which way the text should link from box to box.
Now I'll tell you a little secret: You don't have to use Rows and Columns for just text blocks. It's great for making quick grids or rows of even boxes, too!
One of Illustrator's most popular type features is its capability to place type along a path (see Figure 14.15). You can place text along any path in Illustrator, whether it's an open path or a closed one.
To place text on a path, do one of the following:
Type on a path.
Choosing the Path Type tool.
With the Type tool selected, the icon changes to the Path Type tool when the (Option)[Alt] key is pressed.
When type is on a path, you can move its position as well as flip it to the other side of the path. First, select the type or the path using the Selection tool (the Direct Selection tool or Group Selection tool do not help here). Notice that the path is highlighted as well as the I-beam insertion point for the type. To edit where the type lies on the path, click the I-beam and drag in the direction you want to move the type. To flip the type to the other side of the path, double-click directly on the I-beam or drag towards the opposite side of the path (see Fig- ure 14.18).
By double-clicking the I-beam, you can flip the type to the inside of the circle.
Illustrator 7 also supports vertical text (see Figure 14.19), as well as complicated alphabets such as Kanji (Japanese). The Vertical Type tool, Vertical Area Type tool, and Vertical Path Type tool all work the same as their horizontal counterparts.
Samples of type created with the vertical text tools.
Up to this point, we've covered just about all the creation tools in Illustrator. First we covered drawing shapes, and now we know how to add text to our illustrations. We learned about the three types of text in Illustrator: point text, area text, and text on a path. But don't go anywhere just yet. There's still plenty more, and next hour we discuss how to work with the text we just learned to create.
Point Type--Type in Illustrator that is defined by a single point. Usually used for headlines and logos.
Area Type--Type in Illustrator that is defined by an enclosed shape. Usually used for running body copy.
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