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Working with Text
the Paragraph panel and the options
available from the panel menu.
single-line composer
every-line composer
Type tool
Area Type tool
Type On A Path tool
Vertical Type tool
Vertical Area Type tool
Vertical Type On A Path tool
type tools in the tools panel
Text composition methods
The appearance of type on the page depends on a complex interaction of
processes called composition. Using the word spacing, letter spacing, glyph
scaling, and hyphenation options you've selected, Illustrator evaluates possible
line breaks and chooses the one that best conforms to the specified parameters.
Illustrator offers two composition methods: the Adobe Every-line Composer
and the Adobe Single-line Composer.
The single-line composer offers a traditional approach to composing type—one
line at a time. This option is useful if you want manual control over how lines
break or if you are working with legacy text that you do not want to reflow.
The every-line composer considers a network of break points for a range of
lines, and can optimize earlier lines in the paragraph in order to eliminate espe-
cially unattractive breaks later on.
To choose one of these methods, choose it from the Paragraph panel menu.
If you select your type object with the Selection tool, Illustrator applies the
method to all paragraphs that are contained in it; if you click the text insertion
point in a paragraph the option will be applied only to that paragraph.
FreeHand uses a text composition engine that is very similar to the Adobe
Single Line Composer; if you notice unwanted text-reflow in a converted docu-
ment, try changing the composition method.
Type tools
In FreeHand, you use the Text tool to enter text, either into fixed size or auto
expanding text blocks, to then flow it into a shape or attach it to a path. In
Illustrator, there are three methods for creating type: at a point, inside an area,
and along a path.
•
Point type is a horizontal or vertical line of text that begins where you click
on the artboard with the Type tool and expands as you enter characters.
This method is useful for adding a few words to your artwork. Point type
resizes when you drag the handles of the bounding box.
•
Area type uses the boundaries of a selected vector object to control the flow
of characters. When the text reaches a boundary, it automatically wraps to
fit inside the defined area. This method is useful when you want to create
one or more paragraphs, such as for a brochure. Create a container for area
type by clicking and dragging a rectangular shape with the Type tool, or
use the Area Type tool to select any closed path to contain your text. You
can also create a text area by clicking and dragging on the artboard with the
Working with text 31
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