Curve text is an easy way to break up horizontal lines and add character to your design. Let’s learn how to curve text in Affinity Publisher and create this summer sale graphic together.

1. How to Create Curves to Place the Text On

You can curve text in Affinity Publisher with any curve, including parametric shapes. We’ll start by curving text on a circle. Click and hold on the parametric shape tool, and then select the Ellipse Tool. Drag an ellipse where you want your text. Hold Shift and Command to make a perfect circle.

Now create a bezier curve. Select the Pen Tool in the toolbar and click and drag to create a bezier node. Click and drag again to create a second curve node. You can add more if you like, but I’m just going to use two nodes. Switch to the Node Tool if you need to alter the placement of your nodes.

2. How to Prepare the Curves

In Affinity Publisher, curved text is a destructive process, and there are some things we need to keep in mind before we proceed.

1. Once you place the text on a curve, the stroke and fill properties are no longer accessible. If you place text on a curve with a fill, changing the fill color will only affect the color of the text, not the curve.
2. When you place text on a parametric shape, like a circle, the parametric options will disappear. 

Remove any stroke or fill from your path before adding text. Hold Shift and select the curves you created in step 3, and then remove the fill and stroke in the Color panel.

I recommend that you always duplicate the curve before adding text, so that you can use the same curves to add decoration to the design. In the Layers panel, click the first curve and hold Command while clicking any other curves you want to duplicate. Now just press Command-J to duplicate the shape. I will also hide the duplicate curves for now to avoid confusion.

3. How to Curve Text in Affinity Publisher

Click the Artistic Text Tool, and then move the cursor over the circle we created previously. When the cursor changes to a T and a curve, Publisher is ready to add text to the curve. Click and drag to set the text size. Now you can type your text and style it to taste. You can download the Handwriting Summer Font I’m using from Envato Elements.

4. How to Adjust the Text Position

In Affinity Publisher, curved text displays one or two sets of handles to position the text on the curve. If there's any text that doesn’t fit between the first set of handles in light green and red, it will break onto a second line with darker green and red handles.  Move them around to place the text where you want it. Select the text and click the center justify button to center it between the handles.

Also, in Affinity Publisher, curved text doesn’t break onto a third line. Any text that doesn’t fit after filling the space between the dark green and red handles will be overset. The crossed red eye icon indicates that the text is also too large for the second line and isn't rendered.

5. How to Adjust the Spacing and Baseline of the Text

Adjust the baseline of the second text line. Curved text in Affinity Publisher will gain or lose space between characters. Add space between characters by increasing the baseline. Adjust the tracking in the Character panel to fine-tune the spacing of your curved text. You can also reverse text with the button next to the baseline adjustment button. Finally, transform the circle as needed, and the text will follow.

6. How to Add Curved Text to Bezier Curves

You can add text to a bezier curve the same way we did with a circle in Affinity Publisher. Simply follow steps 3-5 again. Curved text on bezier curves only differs in that the second line will run along the bottom of the line rather than the opposite side of the shape.

7. How to Decorate Using the Duplicate Curves

Unlock the curves we made before adding text, so that you can add lines to accentuate the text or use multiple duplicates to create compound shapes with fills.

And Your Curved Text Design Is Finished!

That's all there is to placing text on a curve. It's a particularly quick effect to use in designs. Pay close attention to the cursor and the small red and green handles to position curved text with ease in your designs.

Now You Know How to Curve Text in Affinity Publisher

If you liked this Affinity Publisher tutorial, be sure to check out more resources from the Envato Tuts+ library:

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