HOW TO FILL A PATH WITH TEXT IN ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR CS4

Before you start, you will need to choose an image to work with. I have used a synoptic chart this
time, as it has flowing contour lines that will look good as a pattern. The image quality of your
source picture is not important, unless you want to include it in your final image.

1) Once you have an image, open it in Illustrator. Select the pen tool.

2) Create a new layer above the source image, and make sure it appears highlighted. With the
pen tool selected, click at regular intervals along the contour lines/main shape areas of your
image. Complete each shape by continuing until you reach the point where you started.

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3) Now itʼs time to smooth the paths you have drawn. Click on the smooth tool (it looks like a
pencil with diagonal stripes) and trace along the outlines you have just drawn. The jagged points
will turned into curves. You may have to trace the same paths more than once to get good curves.

4) Select all paths. At the bottom of the toolbar, click the colour square, then click the small box
with the diagonal red line. This will remove the default fill, you will now just have the clear path
outlines, which are ready to fill with text.

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5) Click the eye icon alongside the source image in the layers panel (to hide it). Select the ʻArea
Type Toolʼ (hidden in the ʻTʼ type icon), then select one of the paths. A cursor will appear inside the
shape. Type a short phrase, leaving a single space in between each letter, for best results.

6) Copy and paste the phrase repeatedly, leaving a single space between each paste. If you have
a large amount of text, this will only take a few clicks. Click within each path on the page and
paste the text until all areas are filled. Experiment with font sizes and styles later.

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7) Once youʼve finished all the pasting, you should have something like the above. Simple, yet
effective. From here, the real fun begins. You can add new layers of type; change the fonts,
sizes, colours, styles, and pretty much go wild turning photos into typographic works of art.

P.S. Donʼt forget to save your work frequently. You wouldnʼt want to give yourself RSI
(repetitive strain injury) from having to do it all again!

Again, here is the original image we started with, this time with our text pattern on top:

© 2009 Experimental Typography: http://typografx.wordpress.com