I'm not going to go into all of the options available for coverting text to curves here, that's better left for an article on Editing Vector Objects, but I will give you a brief idea of some of the things you can do.

You need to first convert text into a vector object to edit it's path. You can convert each letter to it's own object (As Character Shapes), or convert the line in it's entirety into one object, (As Single Character). We'll look at each of these options separately.

As Character Shapes

On a new canvas, create some vector text. You remember how to do that, don't you? Well, just in case, with the Text tool, click anywhere in the canvas. Select any of the options you desire in the Text Dialog Box, but be sure to have the "Create As" Vector radio button selected. Click OK.

The next step is to convert the text. Select the Object Selector tool and right click the text. From the pop-up menu, choose As Character Shapes.

Now the fun begins. Start by deselecting your text by either pressing CTRL + D on your keyboard or selecting Selections > Select None from the File menu. This is an important step. If you don't de-select you'll be sitting there spinning your wheels and wondering why in the world your program isn't behaving according to this article.

Once you've de-selected the text you'll be able to select a single letter with the Object Selector. This single letter object can be moved anywhere on the canvas, deformed, rotated, or individual nodes may be edited via the Node Edit option.

Once everything's just the way you want it you can convert the layer to a raster layer, add some effects, and finish it off with a drop shadow. The example had an inner bevel effect added.

As Single Shape

Converting text to curves as a single shape is begun much the same way as converting it as character shapes.... but all similarity ends there. Select the Object Selector tool and right click the text. From the pop-up menu, choose As Single Shape. Now right click on your object and select Node Edit. Ok, similarity is over. Now you've got a line of undecipherable text created by hundreds of nodes. You can manipulate each of these nodes individually. You can get fancy, create something stunning, or just make a mess.

A contour, (two or more nodes connected by a line or curve) can be broken apart at a node while in the Node Edit mode. To break a contour you must first select a node, then right-click the image to bring up the pop-up menu. Select Edit > Break or press CTRL + K on your keyboard. The selected node will be split into two separate nodes, a new start node and a new end node. Once the nodes are broken you can drag them around independant of each other.

What if you don't want to break nodes apart. What if you've already got too many and would like to combine a few of them. Not to worry. Start and end nodes of one contour may be joined with start or end points of another node.

To join nodes, press and hold the CTRL key while dragging either a start or end node over another start or end node. When the word "join" appears, the two are overlapped. Release the button to complete the operation.

With a little imagination, and a lot of determination, you can come up with some pretty cool effects using the break and join features of node edit.

That just about wraps up creating text on a curve. With a little practice you should be creating some awesome text graphics. Don't forget, to add effects you have to convert the vector layer to raster.

Vector text can be combined with an object so that the text conforms to the shape of that object.

Let's say you've got some vector text created and you decide you'd like it to be displayed on a curve, rather than straight. Rather than starting over, you can convert your existing text to a curve!

Using the tool of your choice, create either a vector line object, or a shape object. In the example I chose to create a bezier curve.

Once your curve is created, and adjusted to your taste, select the Object Selector tool. While holding in the Shift key, click on the text and the object, to group them. A bounding box should now enclose both the text and the object.

Right click on the grouped object and select Fit Text to Path from the pop-up menu to make your text jump to the line! To place your text on the opposite side of the path right click on the image with the Object Selector tool. Select Node Edit > Edit > Reverse Path or Node Edit > Edit > Reverse Contour from the pop-up menu. Note, when using Reverse Path you can click anywhere inside of the working canvas, but to use Reverse Contour you must first click on a node or the option will be greyed out.

The line can be 'turned off' the same way you eliminate a vector shape from the image. Locate the layer that contains your text and line. Expand the layer and click the Visibility button of the line so that it appears crossed out.

Another option is to leave the line for effect, convert the entire layer to a raster layer and add a drop shadow or other effect!

Creating Text on a Path

First you're going to need a curve on which to place the text. With the Preset Shape Tool draw a circle on a new canvas. If your background color is turned off on the color palette you will get an outline of a circle, if the foreground is off and the background color on you will get a solid circle. Which you decide on is unimportant for this exercise as we'll be turning the vector shape off for the final result.

Switch to the Text Tool. When you move your cursor over the image you'll notice that it changes to the Curved Text Cursor. This is the time to click. If you click to open the text dialog box while the normal cursor is showing your text will be inserted into your image as a straight line.

Most of the items in the text dialog box will be self explanatory, but there are a few items that bear explanation. Leading is the space between lines. Not only does it increase/decrease space between the lines of text, but it can be used to position text on a curve. Positive values will place the text below the line while negative values will place it above the line.

Working with text on a curve, you will eventually run into the problem where the letters will overlap each other as they bend around the curve. This is where Kerning comes in handy. Kearning is the space between the letters. Higher numbers increase the space between letters, lower numbers decrease it.

In the example, I had the Auto Kern check box to use the default kerning values.

The Styles and Texture boxes are not something I'm going to go into at this time. For now, if you just click on the Standard Text button, a nice flat text in the color displayed will appear on your circle. In the Create As box, select the Vector radio button and make sure that Antialias is checked. If you haven't already done so, type some text and click OK.

Cool! We've got text in a circle but we've also got that circle and we really don't want it there. Not a problem, getting rid of that line is as easy as clicking a button!

Locate the layer that contains your text and vector object. If you've followed this example you should only have a background and one layer. Expand the layer and click the Visibility button of the object so that it appears crossed out.

Add a transparency and your circled text is finished!