How can I place text or graphics on a curved line or circle in Adobe® Freehand®?

Text can be attached to a line, curve, spiral, circle or almost any path you can draw. Graphic programs such as Adobe® FreeHand® or Adobe® Illustrator® are two good programs to use for this. The following instructions are for Adobe FreeHand.

Create a new document

• Select New from the File menu.
• Or open a file that has text already created in it.
  

Save the file

• Select Save as... from the File menu.
• Type a name in the File name: field.
• Choose FreeHand document from the Format: (Macintosh®) or Save as type: (Windows®) pop-up menu (.fhx).
• Save it in your graphics folder.
• Click Save.

Create the text

• Select the Text tool from Toolbox.
• Click on your page and type the text.
  • If the text will be attached to a circle, press Return before typing the text that will go on the bottom of the circle if you don't want the text to be upside down.
• To change the font or type size:
  • highlight the text with the text tool
  • in the Inspector palette, click on the A tab
  • select another font or type size from the pop-up menus.
• Save the file.

Create the path

• Curved line
  • Use the Pen tool or Pencil tool in the Toolbox to draw a line.
• Circle
  • Use the Ellipse tool in the Toolbox to draw an oval or circle.
  • Hold down the shift key for a perfect circle.
• Spiral
  • Use the Spiral tool which is either in the Toolbox or in Xtra Tools.
• Save the file.

Attach text to path

• Click on the text block with the Pointer tool.
• Hold down the Shift key and click on the line, circle or spiral.
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• In the Text menu choose Attach to Path. The text appears along the path.
• Save the file.

Tips

• Text needs to be edited
  • Double-click the text with the Text tool to edit it.
• Text can be attached to a visible or invisible path.
  • To display the path, in the Window menu, select Inspectors, then Object.
  • Check Show path.
• To move or reposition text along a path:
  • Click the triangle at the beginning of the attached text and drag.
• Text reads in the wrong direction
  • Hold down the Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac) key and click to select the path.
  • In the Modify menu choose Reverse Direction from the Alter Path pop-up menu.
• Text has disappeared:
  • In the Window menu, select Inspectors, then Object.
  • Choose None from both the Top: and Bottom: text alignment menus.
• To remove text from a path:

  • In the Text menu, choose Detach Text from Path.

Attaching a Graphic to a path

• Import or create a graphic in FreeHand.
• Select the Pointer tool and click on the graphic.
• Choose Copy from the Edit menu.
• Select the Text tool.
• Click the cursor in the text.
• Choose Paste from the Edit menu.
• The graphic behaves like a text character. Anything that can be done to text attached to a path can be done to a graphic.
• Save the file.

Convert text to paths

• After all the edits are complete, convert the text to a path.
• Select the text with the Text tool or Pointer tool.
• Select Convert to Paths from the Text menu.

Export the file

• Select Export from the File menu,
• Export the file as an EPS file:
  • Windows: choose EPS with TIFF preview from the Save as type: pop-up menu
  • Mac: choose Macintosh EPS from the Format: pop-up menu.
• Keep the same name or type a new name.
• Click Export.

Place the file

• Place the EPS file in your document:
  • PageMaker or InDesign: choose Place from the File menu
  • QuarkXPress: choose Get Picture from the File menu.
• Send the EPS file, as well as the original FreeHand file, along with the PageMaker, InDesign or Quark file when pages are submitted.