Start
Previous Next

6. The Tools in the Toolbox / 6.2 Tools for All Kind of Layers

### 6.2.13 The Text Tool

The text tool offers all functionality needed to create and edit text. You can create normal text layers, you can create text running along paths and you can connect two text layers, so that text flows from one text layer to the other. And - of course - you can edit existing text very similar to a word processor. You can select blocks of text, copy text, change text attributes, ...

Creating Text Layers

By a single click on a place with no text layer you can create a dynamic text layer. A dynamic text layer is automatically resized according to its content. It gets larger, if you enter additional text, it gets smaller, if you delete text.

You can also click and drag in order to get a text layer with a fixed size. PhotoLine will automatically format the entered text to fit into the text layer.

If you want to create a text layer at a position with an already existing text layer, you have to hold Ctrl (Windows) or Command (macOS) while clicking. If you don’t do this, the text cursor is simply set to the clicking position.

But PhotoLine offers not only simple rectangular text. Text can also run along a vector path/object. This text is called path text. Path text consists of lines, too. Every subpath of the vector object is a separate line.

You can create a path text in various ways. The simplest way is to create a vector object with one of the vector figure tools (circle, rectangle, ...) at first. If you click with the text tool onto the edge of the vector object afterwards, the newly entered text will automatically run along the path.

Another way is to create a normal text layer. If you select Run on Path in the Tool Settings afterwards, PhotoLine will search for the closest vector layer and connect the text layer to it. For determining the closest vector layer PhotoLine does not use the distance in the document window, but the order in the Layer List (see chapter 4.7).

In order to enable exact placement of path text on a vector object, there are specific adjustments. Invert Path Direction turns the direction of the path text. While the text usually runs from the start to the end, after selecting Invert Path Direction it will run the other way round. This has the additional effect, that the text flips to the other side of the path. The following image will illustrate this:

Beside this there is Offset. Offset allows you to move the starting point of the text. The entered value is given in percent. The text starts at the vector start point with 0%, at the middle of the path with 50% and at the end with 100%.

Note: you can use all character and paragraph attributes like right aligned and centered with path text.

The Text Ruler

If you are editing a fixed size, non-dynamic text layer, you will see a text ruler at the top edge:

The text ruler allows to change some paragraph attributes. You can change the paragraph indent (), the left and the right indent () and the tabulator positions.

You can modify a tabulator by clicking and dragging it to another position. If the destination position is outside the ruler, the tabulator will be deleted. You can create a new tabulator by clicking on a free position in the ruler.

A double-click in the ruler opens the tabulator dialog in the Tool Settings.

Text Styles are offering a more sophisticated way of formatting text (see chapter 4.34).

Text Flow

PhotoLine knows two kinds of text flow: automatic and manual text flow. Automatic text flow is needed if text should flow from one page to the next. Manual text flow is used for text flow inside a page.

Automatic text flow is an attribute of the text layer and can be turned on in the toolbar (see chapter 4.5.3.3). The text layer can have two different attributes:

- From Previous Page
This means the text layer is observing the previous page. If a text layer appears on this page that wants to flow to the next page, automatically a text flow will be created.
- To Next Page
This is the corresponding attribute to the one above.

This means automatic text flow is only created if on one page there is a text layer with "text flows to the next page" and on the next page there is a text layer with "text comes from previous page".

In contrast to automatic text flow manual text flow is created by using the mouse. While using the text tool in a non-dynamic text layer, in the bottom right corner a small square is displayed. This square is the text flow marker. This marker can have several states. If the square is empty, it indicates, that everything is OK. If the overflow symbol is shown, the text doesn’t fit in the layer and therefore some parts of the text or the whole text is invisible. And last there is the text flow symbol . This indicates, that the text is flowing from the active layer to another one:

But the text flow marker is not only used for displaying information. It is needed for creating and breaking text flows, too. If the mouse is over the text flow marker, it changes to the text flow cursor . By clicking an existing text flow is displayed. If you are dragging to another text layer, a new text flow will be created. If you are dragging to a place without text layer, an existing text flow will be terminated. In the latter case the mouse cursor changes to .

Shape Flow

Shape flow is text that is formatted inside or around another layer. Therefore, its layout is defined by the shape of this other layer.

In order to create shape flow you have to select a non-dynamic text layer first. After that in the lower right corner of the layer a small symbol appears: . If you only click on this symbol, all layers are marked, around or inside which the active text layer is flowing. By clicking and dragging to another layer a frame around this layer is drawn in order to indicate that releasing the mouse-button creates shape flow around this layer. Additionally the status bar shows the name and the type of that layer. If the wrong layer is preselected, because several layers are lying at the same place, you can switch between the layers under the mouse by using the keys Arrow-Left and Arrow-Right. If you want to create shape flow inside a layer, you have to press and hold Shift while selecting. If the mouse is over a valid layer it changes its appearance to . On releasing the mouse-button the text layer will flow inside the destination layer.

If the distance of the text to the shape layer is to small, it can be enlarged by using the Tool Settings, subpoint "Layer Settings".

In order to remove a shape flow you have to use the Layer Attributes dialog (see chapter 4.11). Here you simply delete the corresponding Text Shape Flow entry.

Editing Text

There are some shortcuts, that ease editing text.

Every time you press the Shift-key in combination with an arrow key, the text cursor doesn’t move but the according text area is selected.

If you are pressing the Ctrl-key (Windows) or the Alt-key (macOS) in combination with arrow left or arrow right, the text cursor is moving word-wise. Of course the Shift-key works, too: the text is selected word-wise. If you type Backspace or Delete in combination with Ctrl (Windows) or Alt (macOS), PhotoLine will delete word-wise.

If the Alt-key (Windows) or the Ctrl-key (macOS) is used in combination with arrow up or arrow down, the selected area is moved one pixel up or down. If no text is selected, the character after the text cursor is moved. This is an easy way to change the baseline.

If the Alt-key (Windows) or the Ctrl-key (macOS) is used in combination with arrow left or arrow right, the character spacing of the selected text is reduced or enlarged by one pixel. If no text is selected, the character after the text cursor is moved. This is an easy way to change the kerning.

If the Ctrl-key is used in combination with "-", a conditional hyphenation is inserted. A word, that doesn’t fit in a line, will be hyphenated at this location.

By typing Shift+Space a fixed space is inserted. A fixed space looks like a normal space, but at the fixed space location line-wrapping is not possible. Fixed spaces are used to enter expressions, that shouldn't be split.

Ctrl+Return inserts a page break while Alt+Return inserts a break to the next layer in the text flow.

Shift+Return inserts a soft return. A soft return doesn't create a real new paragraph, but it just breaks the line at the current position.

Spell Checking

On macOS and Windows 10 (or better) PhotoLine supports the built-in spell checker.

Spell checking takes place while typing and marks unknown words red.

The context menu of a marked word lists the correction proposals, if there are any.

The next command is Ignore Word. Applying it will insert that word in a list and it won‘t be marked as wrong any more in the active document. The list will be saved along with the document.

Similar to Ignore Word is Add to User Dictionary, but the user dictionary isn‘t saved with the document. Instead it is a setting of PhotoLine. The user dictionary is used for every document, not only the active one.

Both - the user dictionary and the Ignore Word-list - can be edited in the options (see chapter 7.10.1.22).

On macOS there is additionally the command Spell Checking.... This command shows the standard dialog of the macOS spell checker. It can be used to - for example - switch the checking language.

Inserting Layers In Text

Its a common problem, that text has to be illustrated by an image or a graphic. But text changes shouldn't require a repositioning of the graphic. Therefore, the graphic should be part of the text.

This is possible by using PhotoLine, too. You have to proceed like this: first you have to select the layer, which you want to insert into the text, by using the Layer Tool. Then you have to copy this layer by using Edit/Copy. Afterwards you switch to the Text Tool and place the text cursor to that location, where the layer should appear. Now you can insert it by using Edit/Paste.

A graphic layer inserted in text is always the child of its text layer. This way the layer can be edited like any other layer by using the standard tools.

The Tool Settings Of The Text Tool

The Tool Settings allow to inspect and modify various text attributes. It is split up in several subdialogs.

If you are holding Alt while modifying a setting, the new settings will be applied to the whole text instead of the current selection.

- Common Settings
With text layers you can adjust the font, the font size and special decorations like fat, italic and underlined. Furthermore you can use superscript and subscript. If the font is displayed red, it isn‘t installed on the computer. In this case PhotoLine will use a replacement font.
Beside that you can change the alignment of paragraphs. You may choose between left aligned, centered, right aligned, justified and forced justified. Forced justified justifies all lines of a paragraph including the last one.
The line distance can be relative or absolute. Using the relative line distance the height of a line is determined by its content. If the font size is raised, the line distance is enlarged, too. The entered value will always be added to the calculated one.
The absolute line distance controls the distance between the baselines of two text lines directly. A value of 0 means, that all text lines are drawing above each other.
- Character Settings
These settings can be applied to individual characters or to blocks of text.
Some fonts contain an embedded kerning in order to enhance the appearance of text. Often special character combinations are treated separately. These are combinations like "Te", where the "e" is shifted to the left. PhotoLine normally uses this kind of kerning. If you don‘t want this behavior, you will have to turn Font Kerning off.
Kerning changes the distance between characters. Values greater than 0 enlarge the distance, values smaller than 0 reduce it.
Baseline Offset moves characters vertically.
Char Width allows to scale text horizontally.
The underline settings allow to modify the width, position and color of the underline stroke.
- Paragraph Settings
Paragraph settings affect all paragraphs, that are contained in the currently marked text block.
The paragraph settings are divided into four parts:
Indent
Indent controls the edges of a paragraph. There are three different kinds of indention: the indention of the first line (also called "paragraph indention") , the left indention and the right indention . These values can be changed by using the text ruler, too.
Paragraph Distance
These values are controlling the distance between paragraphs. There is the distance before a paragraph and the distance after a paragraph .
Page Format
Page Format controls the behavior of paragraphs, that should be distributed to two pages or columns. Activating Connect Paragraphs ensures, that this paragraph will be on the same page as the next one. The option is mainly useful for headlines. Don‘t Split Paragraph makes sure, that the paragraph won‘t be distributed to two pages. If Paragraph Control is activated, there won‘t remain single lines of a paragraph at the start or at the end of a page. The formatting process takes care, that there are at least two text lines.
Text Register
Text in Register controls, whether the selected paragraphs are using the line raster defined in the Layer Attributes dialog (see chapter 4.11 "Text Register").
- Tabulator Settings
Like in a text processor, text layers allow to create tabulators. Tabulators are predefined positions. If the Tab-key is pressed, the text cursor always jumps to the next tabulator position. If there is no next tabulator position in the current line, the text cursor jumps to the next line.
By using tabulators you can create tables in a text layer. You simply set a tabulator at the beginning of each column. This way you can easily fill the table by pressing Tab after each field. Another advantage is that columns will stay straight, if text is inserted afterwards.
You can assign a fill character to a tabulator. The free space created by pressing Tab will be filled with this character.
At the moment PhotoLine supports left aligned, right aligned, centered and decimal tabulators. A decimal tabulator behaves like a right aligned tabulator with a single difference: by typing a definable decimal character text formatting is no longer right aligned. Everything including the decimal character is placed behind the tabulator position.
Be aware that tabulators are always created for the current paragraph and not for the whole text. If you want to assign the tabulator positions of a given paragraph to another one, you can use the functions Copy Ruler Settings (see chapter 7.4.28) and Paste Ruler Settings (see chapter 7.4.29). These functions are part of the context menu (see chapter 3.2), too, if the active tool is the text tool.
- Layer Settings
This subdialog contains values that affect the whole text layer.
Run On Path converts a text layer to a path text or turns this feature off. If there is no vector layer, Run On Path will be disabled. Invert Path Direction flips the direction of the path text on the path and Offset moves the starting point of the text. By selecting Distort Letters the text will be shown as vector graphics. This allows a finer distortion, but display speed will be slower and on saving as PDF the file size will be larger. By clicking Extended... the function Text on Path (chapter 7.4.22) will be called which allows a more detailed control of path text. You can find more information on this topic earlier in this chapter and in chapter 7.4.22 Text on Path.
Vertical Alignment controls the vertical position of the text in the layer. The default is Top. However, Center and Bottom are also available. This setting only has an effect if shape flow is not active.
In the case of shape flow, the distance between the text and the shape can be set with Flow Distance.
If you have accidentally converted a dynamic text layer into one with a fixed size, you can undo this using the Dynamic Text Layer switch.

Mouse Cursors

While working with the text tool you will see the following mouse cursors:

By clicking the next text layer at the current position will be selected.

By clicking the text cursor will be set to the current mouse position. Clicking and dragging will select a text block.

This cursor indicates, that clicking and dragging will select line wise. It is displayed, if the cursor is placed left to a line.

By clicking a dynamic text layer will be created. By clicking and dragging a fixed size text layer will be created.

By clicking a text layer containing path text will be created. By clicking and dragging a fixed size text layer will be created.

By clicking the text flow between text layers is edited.

By releasing the mouse button an existing text flow will be cut.

By releasing the mouse-button a shape flow around the selected layer is created.

By releasing the mouse-button a shape flow inside the selected layer is created.

By clicking and dragging the active layer will be scaled.

By clicking and dragging the active layer will be rotated.

By clicking and dragging the active layer will be sheared.

By clicking and dragging the active layer will be distorted prospectively.