- Types of Type
- Working with Threaded Text
- Wrapping Area Type Around Objects
- Formatting Text
- Converting Type to Outlines
- Using the Eyedropper with Type
- Using the Appearance Panel with Type
- The Glyphs Panel
- Working with Legacy Text
- Advanced Features of Multiple Artboards
- New Type Features in Illustrator CC
- Graphic Novel Cover Design
- Create an Identity
Formatting Text
While the Character and Paragraph panels (and new Touch Type tool in CC) let you format text one attribute at a time, the Character Styles and Paragraph Styles panels allow you to apply multiple attributes with one click.
An open document always has a paragraph style applied to it even before there’s any text, so if you select the Type tool, then modify its attributes in the Control panel, Illustrator thinks you’re intending to modify the default, [Normal Paragraph Style]. A plus sign next to the style name in the Paragraph Styles panel indicates you’ve applied extra formatting, or overrides. To avoid unneeded overrides, work with styles wherever possible, and see the Tip “Avoiding formatting overrides” on the next page.
Figure 6 Artist Donal Jolley wrapped Area text around this duck by placing the duck above the text and choosing Object> Text Wrap> Make
- To create a style based on existing formatting, format the text as you want it to appear, select it, and click on the New Style button (Option-click/Alt-click to name the style). The selected attributes define the new style.
- To create a new style based on another, highlight the style you want to copy and click the Create New Style icon. To name the style as you create it (and modify the style if you wish), hold Option/Alt when you click.
- To rename a style, double-click on the name in the panel for inline editing.
- To apply a paragraph style to text, just insert your cursor into the paragraph you want to format and click the name of the style in the Paragraph Styles panel. After first applying a style, to remove all overrides click again on the plus beside the Paragraph style name.
- To apply a character style, select letters you want to style and click a style name in the Character Styles panel. You can also use a new Touch Type tool in CC.