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Resize Text Bounding Box

New Here ,
Aug 19, 2011 Aug 19, 2011

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Exactly how does one change the size of the text bounding box, without scaling the text or changing the font size?

I have a method now, but it is very inconvenient. I am looking for something to improve workflow.

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Community Expert ,
Aug 19, 2011 Aug 19, 2011

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Which version of Illustrator are you using? What's your current method?

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New Here ,
Aug 19, 2011 Aug 19, 2011

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I have CS5.

I googled it sometime back and could not find a great answer. What I currently do is use the direct select tool to shift pick two corners. Then I drag the box, with the shit option. This has be done separately for the vertical and horizontal.

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Community Expert ,
Aug 19, 2011 Aug 19, 2011

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Sounds like you're going to use numeric input.

Go to the menu Type > Area Type options

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New Here ,
Aug 19, 2011 Aug 19, 2011

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Kurt, thanks. That is definately an improvement!

Do you know if there is a way to fit the box to the text? That is really all I need and could be done in one shot as opposed to going through each element. I probably have hundreds/thousands of these to contend with.

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Community Expert ,
Aug 19, 2011 Aug 19, 2011

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That self-evident command you're looking for has not been there in Illustrator for about 25 years.

You could write a script or you could use one of them that have already been written. But don't be too surprised to explore their stumbling blocks.

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New Here ,
Aug 19, 2011 Aug 19, 2011

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Any idea where such a script might exist? I can do a record, but that does not give you much control. I will start looking into scripts to see if it had more control. Thanks.

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Community Beginner ,
Mar 15, 2012 Mar 15, 2012

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That's a stupid reply. I could resize a text box by dragging its handles in CS3, just a few years ago. Now it doesn't behave that way. Though why Adobe would force users to enter text box dimensions in a modal dialog box instead of intuitively grabbing a box handle and stretching is beyond me. Obviously there must be a tool that does this without modifying the text itself.

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Valorous Hero ,
Mar 15, 2012 Mar 15, 2012

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Works fine here with SC5. Scaling and rotating a text box with the selection tool (black arrow) doesn't affect the text, just the box. Make sure it is a text box and not just text.

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Community Expert ,
Aug 19, 2011 Aug 19, 2011

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You might explore making a graphic style which adds a new fill with relative extents which could be applied to the text boxes. The only problem I had with this is that it turns the character level fill blank and has to be reapplied. I've also just used the eyedropper to transfer the same kinds of settings from one block of styled text to many others which doesn't require reapplying the base character fill.

Screen shot 2011-08-19 at 2.14.48 PM.png

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New Here ,
Aug 19, 2011 Aug 19, 2011

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Well, I found this script, which seems to work:

http://kelsocartography.com/blog/?p=316

Is there an easy way to call the script? Right now, I choose "file/scripts/other scripts" then select the script. I was hoping there might be a panel for it, but don't see anything.

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New Here ,
Feb 17, 2016 Feb 17, 2016

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You are a life-saver!

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LEGEND ,
Mar 17, 2012 Mar 17, 2012

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Turn off bounding boxes when working with text.

Use Direct Selection tool to drag text box edges.

Or Direct Select text box ony with Option held down (to select the whole box), then use Scale tool.

Just be careful to select the text box only, not the type. Turning off the preview can make this easier.

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Community Expert ,
Mar 17, 2012 Mar 17, 2012

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Brian,

You may consider this option:

http://forums.adobe.com/message/3604219#3604219

You can read the rest of the thread for further considerations.

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New Here ,
Apr 21, 2012 Apr 21, 2012

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Brian,

If you didn't figure it out yet... go to View and click Show bounding box.

The bounding box shows the editable outline of the text object trying to enlarge or scale.

its a simple case of not having the right view option turned on.

now you can use the selection tool (black arrow) to drag any corner point of your text bounding box.

easier than inputting numbers all day long.

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LEGEND ,
Apr 21, 2012 Apr 21, 2012

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No. This is complete disinformation.

Using a bounding box will scale/distort the type.

Instead, direct select the text box as per post #11.

The OP specifically said that he did not want to scale the type.

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New Here ,
Jul 22, 2019 Jul 22, 2019

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LATEST

Yes! Thank you!!!

mini-rant: This is one of the many defaults that frustratingly changed... and why did it? I don't see the point.

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New Here ,
Apr 21, 2012 Apr 21, 2012

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Sorry Steve,

Not sure what settings you have set in your illustrator prefs, but i'm rockin cs5.1 and for me showing the bounding box enables me to grab the corner handles of the text box with the selection tool (black arrow). and... this does NOT scale the type, it just opends the box up so you can see the rest of the words you are typing.

Here are some screens showing bounding box ON. and the 2nd showing the selection tool resizing the text box without scaling.

bounding_box.jpg

bounding_box2.jpg

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Participant ,
Aug 08, 2012 Aug 08, 2012

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Yes, Bounding box ON, and then is possible to resize the text box with selection tool.

The text isn't scaled.

Thanks a lot

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New Here ,
Oct 04, 2012 Oct 04, 2012

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I think there's still some misunderstanding. What you're experiencing is the difference between "point type"(text scales w/ the bounding box) and "area type" (text does not scale with the bounding box). Point type and area type have slightly different bounding boxes.

See  http://rwillustrator.blogspot.com/2007/08/technique-scaling-area-text.html

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New Here ,
Mar 11, 2013 Mar 11, 2013

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Is it possible to get the bounding box to shrink to the edges of the type, without changing its size? So that I can center the type over an object more easily?

I find it really frustrating that I'll be working on a word, like on a logo, and the box will be wider than the type. Then, of course, if I use any of the alignment buttons to align the text to an object, the alignment is wrong. I've never found a way to shrink the box to the size of the type...

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New Here ,
Apr 27, 2013 Apr 27, 2013

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Using Type > Area Type Options works for me. I can turn on the preview mode and adjust the width without changing the type size.

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New Here ,
Jun 27, 2013 Jun 27, 2013

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On AI CS6:

File->Document Setup

click "Edit Artboards" button in top right of dialog box

Then finally you can drag the bounding box to where you would like. (The artboard is the bounding box).

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New Here ,
Dec 11, 2013 Dec 11, 2013

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This has been very frustrating for me as well. As a Macromedia Freehand user (before Adobe Illustrator bought Freehand and stopped supporting Freehand), That option in my Illustration program (now Adobe Illustrator) has disappeared. In Freehand I could double click in a small box in the bottom right of the bounding box and the bounding box would snap to fit the size of the text. No more oversized text boxes to clutter up my workspace. Being as Adobe has taken over Freehand I would like to see them incorporate this capability into Illustrator. They own the coding from Freehand now. I think it should be incorporated into the next version of Adobe Illustrator. Any other thoughts?

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Explorer ,
Jan 29, 2014 Jan 29, 2014

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I found this super confusing as well. Probably because I am so used to the intuitive interface of Fireworks.

The behavior you get when you manipulate the bounding box (scale vs re-flow) is based on how you created the text in the first place.

If you created the text by clicking-and-dragging with the text tool, you have "Area Text" and you can re-flow it as expected when you manipulate the bounding box.

If you created the text by clicking (and not dragging) you have "Point Text" that will get distorted when you manipulate the bounding box.

You can convert back and forth between to two types of type via the "Type" menu commands, "Convert to Area Type" or "Convert to Point Type"

I hope that helps, I'm glad this thread is here so that I didn't have to feel alone in my frustration.

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