15 Replies Latest reply: Feb 23, 2010 9:39 AM by Wade_Zimmerman RSS

    Type On Path Spacing Problem

    Chris Vreeland Community Member

      Maybe I'm not understanding this tool, or maybe I've encountered a bug.

       

      When I place type on a tightly curved path and attempt to use the "spacing" tool that resides in the Type>Type On A Path> Type On A Path Options... dialog, I get an unexpected result.

       

      On a path with ample space between the end of the text and the end point, adjusting spacing by even 1 point causes most of the text to disappear, and the red + sign to appear in the out port, as though there's text overflow.

       

      Here's two images to illustrate -- the only difference between these is that I've tyored a 1 instead of a 0 in the "spacing" field:

       

      TypeOnPath1.png

       

       

      ------------------------------------------------

       

      TypeOnPath2.png

       

      Any ideas? I've tried this with open type and true texxt fonts, quit & restarted Illustrator, tried large and small point sizes, and I get this no matter what.

       

      Ilustrator CS3 Power Mac G5 running OS 10.5.8.

       

      Is it perhaps a C3 vs. 10.5 incompatibility issue?

        • 1. Re: Type On Path Spacing Problem
          Wade_Zimmerman Community Member

          zDoes not effect it that way in CS 4 so the way probably to fix it if it is broken is to upgrade to CS 4

          • 2. Re: Type On Path Spacing Problem
            tromboniator Community Member

            Chris,

             

            It's not 10.5. I'm in 10.6.2, same issue. I think it's CS3. Using Type on a Path is always a frustrating experience, and I have to re-invent the wheel every time.

             

            Peter

            • 3. Re: Type On Path Spacing Problem
              Chris Vreeland Community Member

              It works intermittently if I keep the text endpoints all the way at the ends of the path, center the paragraph and don't move the center point, it functions, sometimes.

               

              As far as upgrading, I may as well wait for CS 5, since it seems pretty close to release.

               

              Thanks!

              • 4. Re: Type On Path Spacing Problem
                Skullmaker Community Member

                Wade,

                 

                You have no shame!

                 

                Did you tell Chris that Adobe is not longer providing updates and CS4 have serious bugs (a lot more worse that he is experiencing).

                 

                I cannot believe how dishonest you are with people who needs help.

                 

                Now he will buy CS5 without knowing that Adobe refuses to fix its buggy versions. You have no shame!

                • 5. Re: Type On Path Spacing Problem
                  Chris Vreeland Community Member

                  Now he will buy CS5 without knowing that Adobe refuses to fix its buggy versions. You have no shame!

                   

                   

                  No worries about that. I still have my Photoshop 3 diskettes and my Illustrator 5 CD -- I've been upgrading since 1994 and yes, I've watched Illustrator get more bloated and buggy since at least V.8.

                   

                  As long as my clients keep sending me Illustrator files, then since I'm primarily a pre-press operator as far as how I use AI professionally, I'll keep on upgrading when necessary.

                   

                  I think I've about milked the ol' G5 as far as I can, and figure it's getting to be time to go Intel, 10.6, & hopefully 64 bit & multi-cpu-aware. Hey, a guy can dream, right?

                   

                  If I buy an 8-core tower and Illustrator CS5 leaves seven of them sitting idle though, I might just kick a chair, or something. :-)

                  • 6. Re: Type On Path Spacing Problem
                    Harron K. Appleman Community Member

                    I'd start lining up some chairs.

                    • 7. Re: Type On Path Spacing Problem
                      Chris Vreeland Community Member

                      Harron K. Appleman wrote:

                       

                      I'd start lining up some chairs.

                       

                      Do you know something specific, or are you just guessing that AI is going to remain a single-CPU app for the forseeable future? I don't see how, with CPU clock speed stalled, and Adobe glomming on features like chrome on a low rider, how they expect it to perform on a single core.

                      • 8. Re: Type On Path Spacing Problem
                        Harron K. Appleman Community Member

                        I do not have any specific information. I am guessing based on the resources Adobe appears to have been investing in Illustrator these past few versions. It wouldn't surprise me to learn Illustrator will one day be folded into InDesign as a corporate cost-cutting measure... if not at CS5, then perhaps in another 18 months down the road. Adobe will do the math on taking Illustrator's aging, bloated code base into the world of 64-bit multicore processing versus just dumping it. Customer needs will be a small part of the equation.

                        • 9. Re: Type On Path Spacing Problem
                          Chris Vreeland Community Member

                          Harron K. Appleman wrote:

                          It wouldn't surprise me to learn Illustrator will one day be folded into InDesign as a corporate cost-cutting measure...

                           

                          I could maybe get behind this idea if it would mean Illustrator design functionality combined with InDesign print functionality. AI's print dialog, while not horrible, is miles behind InDesign's in basic usability.

                           

                          The main reason I still print directly from AI is the ability to use the artwork bounding area to define page size, which allows me to pretty much ignore document page size settings & save film at the same time.

                          • 10. Re: Type On Path Spacing Problem
                            Wade_Zimmerman Community Member

                            ID and AI have the same print dialog!

                            • 11. Re: Type On Path Spacing Problem
                              Chris Vreeland Community Member

                              Wade_Zimmerman wrote:

                               

                              ID and AI have the same print dialog!

                               

                              Well,  they may look the same, but there's subtle functionality differences, in CS3, at least. AI doesn't remember some things that InDesign does, and it's easier to move through dialogs and settings in InDesign -- for instance, when you turn off CMYK colors in AI, (if you have a cmyk object you don't want to print) it turns them back on, but InDesign remembers this. Also, if you've got more spot colors than will fit in the Output> Document Ink Options window in Illustrator, and you get the resultant scroll bar, there's some buggy behavior when trying to change line screen and angle settings that you don't see in InDesign. Also, in InDesign, you can tab through these settings, but AI requires clicking. Illustrator also forgets things that InDesign remembers when you switch printers, like resolution.

                               

                              These are CS3 observations -- maybe it's fixed in CS4. Like I've stated upthread though, I'm going to wait to upgrade until CS5 is released, since it's pretty close. I'm really not complaining -- just making observations, and musing about the future of Illustrator.

                              • 12. Re: Type On Path Spacing Problem
                                Skullmaker Community Member

                                It looks like Adobe is letting Illustrator die. No updates, a lot of bugs and no real improvements or features over the last version.

                                 

                                I still do things with CS2 that CS3 and CS4 cannot do (simple fact: extra anchor point bug) and the only real difference is that CS4 can handle multiple boards. Not really a great thing to buy a version with more bugs.

                                • 13. Re: Type On Path Spacing Problem
                                  Wade_Zimmerman Community Member

                                  Let's see what you are missing out on in CS 4

                                   

                                  Turn on and off effects

                                   

                                  Turn on and off fills from the appearance panel

                                   

                                  select stroke weights and options directly from the appearance panel

                                   

                                  select fills directly from the Appearance Panel

                                   

                                  Gradients with transparent colors

                                   

                                  Gradient annotator

                                   

                                  Blob brush which seems popular with former FH users

                                   

                                  My favorite Application frames

                                   

                                  Clipping masks hide clipped regions align to clip

                                   

                                  New Smart Guide info

                                   

                                  Multiple Artboards

                                   

                                  Drag and drop fro the desktop or finder.

                                   

                                  Better device N support.

                                   

                                  What do you think Hans? There is a trial version you cand download.

                                  • 14. Re: Type On Path Spacing Problem
                                    Skullmaker Community Member

                                    Chris,

                                     

                                    I am glad to hear your are on top of things.

                                     

                                    I like the idea of skipping versions. There is not real improvement over the old versions (only the amount of bugs that Adobe wont care to fix). Probably we can skip 3 or 4 versions. We save money, and we will not be so upset with the bugs that Adobe refuse to fix.

                                     

                                    That is a good idea! Thank you!

                                    • 15. Re: Type On Path Spacing Problem
                                      Wade_Zimmerman Community Member

                                      Actually that does make sense for many users and often users only upgrade when a feature they find that they need has been implemented.

                                       

                                      And many users just skip a version just as a money saving practice but i think they might do it anyway even if it were not about saving money.

                                       

                                      Users also do this with the OS as well.

                                       

                                      My computer might need to be replace just because it is 3 years old but unless i see something significant I might just get  MacBook Pro.