Text on a curve — what gives?

HL
Posted By
hanford_lemoore
Dec 12, 2003
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784
Replies
9
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Closed
Before CS, Text-on-a-curve was a popular request that lots of people dinged Adobe for not including it in Photoshop.

But really, isn’t text-on-a-curve one of the most useless/amateur techniques possible? I’ve NEVER needed to use it (even pre-CS), I almost never see it used in professional media (other than on double-sided DVDs and album covers from the 1970s) and I’ve never seen a design guide or instructional design book that recommends it. I can’t imagine scores of designers out there dying to use a feature like this.

So what gives? Why was it requested so often? Is anyone using this feature now? Is this a case of people wanting it just cuz it’s a cool little feature and ignoring the actual practical application of it?

Just wondering,

Hanford
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G
graffiti
Dec 12, 2003
I almost never see it used in professional media

You’re kidding right?
RO
Robert_Oliver
Dec 12, 2003
But really, isn’t text-on-a-curve one of the most useless/amateur techniques possible?

Nope.
DM
dave_milbut
Dec 12, 2003
Is anyone using this feature now?

Yup.
E
eventide
Dec 12, 2003
Amateur, I think not. This is used all the time,
especially in logo design. Here is just a few examples.

<http://www.pixar.com/featurefilms/nemo/> – check out the logo <http://www.oldnavy.com/>
<http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com>
<http://www.kfc.com>
<http://www.starbucks.com/>
I
ID._Awe
Dec 12, 2003
I just did an ad for a rug company that imports rugs from around the world, so guess where the countries were placed near the round rug centerpiece.
RL
Robert_Levine
Dec 12, 2003
You’re kidding right?

We can only live and hope.

Bob
HL
hanford_lemoore
Dec 12, 2003
You’re kidding right?

I guess I should have said "I almost never *notice* it in professional media." 🙂

Thanks for pointing out the examples. The one on the Old Navy is a great example … the others look more like warps (distortions) and/or non-font wordmarks. I’ve used warping from time to time but when I think of text (and when I’ve tested it in CS) I think of it like it is on the KFC page (which IMHO is a good example of what I’m talking about — looks amateurish to me on that page, sorry if that’s anyone’s design here,)

But thanks for the good examples too. I guess I’m just not a fan of it, and I didn’t notice the better uses.

~Hanford
JB
Jim_b_Ross
Dec 13, 2003
This is my first visit to the forum and interestingly enough, my visit is sponsored by a "Quick Tour" I saw on the Adobe site regarding Photoshop.

One of the features touted during the short tour is "Text on a path", which quickly buzzes by on the video (without explanation) and shows a curved path being drawn and the text being laid down on the curve of the path. I have Photoshop 7 and I can find nothing related to this feature.

Is anyone familiar with how to put text on a path?

Many thanks,

Jim Ross
DM
dave_milbut
Dec 13, 2003
jim, you need cs (version 8) to do text on a path.

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