Available now in AVA 5.9 - Text Tool
The Text Tool has been upgraded significantly for AVA 5.9; it is now more user friendly, flexible and useful!
The Text Tool now has its own dedicated layer - called Text Layer. This can be created like any other layer, by clicking on the layer icon in the Layers Palette.
A text layer can contain any number of text items, have its colour changed, be displayed in overprint, printed and rasterised if needed.
Note: To rasterise a Text Layer go to Layer Menu : Rasterise. This will mean that you can select, snap and fill text as you can a normal 1/8 bit layer
Adding text to your design with the Text Tool
- Make sure you are only viewing one repeat of your design and then select the Text Tool in the Tools Palette or press T on the keyboard. The Text Tool settings window will open.
- Click and drag a rectangular frame that will contain your text.
- Type the text and then click anywhere outside it to finish editing.
Note: If you try to create a text object without selecting a Text layer, a new Text layer will be created automatically to contain the new object.
- After creation you can assign a rotation angle and a tone level to the object; it can be rendered with or without antialiasing
- To edit a text object double click it or use the contextual menu (^ click) while you’re hovering above it.
- While editing a text item, a font inspector will be shown on the toolbar of your document window to use as a handy alternative to the standard Font panel.
- Once objects are created they can be moved around, duplicated, copied/pasted, resized, cropped, aligned or arranged in different ways.
- Text colours can be changed on the Layers Palette as any other standard layer.
Note: Text objects work seamlessly over repeat joins.
AVA 5.8 and below
There are two ways of adding text to a design in AVA. You can use the live Text tool, or the Selection From Text Tool. Both tools are described below and each one has its own features and benefits.
Live Text Tool
The Live Text tool is used to add text to a dedicated layer. The text can be applied to the layer and then subsequently edited again, as many times as you wish, making it the perfect text tool when you aren’t sure if the text you are adding is the final text you need.
- Make sure you are only viewing one repeat of your design and then select the Text Tool in the Tools Palette or press T on the keyboard. The Text Tool settings window will open.
- Activate your designated text layer. This should either be a new layer or an existing layer which does not currently contain any information (as the Live Text Tool will replace the current contents of the layer with the new text).
- Click on the A button in the Text Tool settings window.
- Use your cursor to drag a text box in a relevant place on your design.
- Choose your required font, size and style from the Fonts Window. You will have access to all system fonts, font effects and foreign sets available on your computer. The Fonts Window can be opened by doing one of the following:
- if you have already added the Fonts button to your toolbar, click on it
- go to Edit Menu > Text > Font > Show Fonts
- Type the text required. The font, style, effect and size characteristics can be changed at this point by highlighting all or part of the text and changing the selected settings in the Fonts Window.
- If the text box needs to be made bigger or moved to a different place, click on the Placement tool in the Text Tool settings window (the button next to the A) and click on the text on the design. Node handles will appear around the text, allowing you to adjust or move the box as required.
- After adjusting the text box, text can be edited again by reselecting the A button in the Text Tool settings window. Click inside the text box and the cursor will resume flashing, allowing you to add more text or amend existing text.
- If you want to position the text on an angle, use the rotation disc in the Text Tool settings window or enter an angle in the field next to it to rotate it. Text is usually rotated on a fixed axis at the centre of the text box, but this can be changed to a different pivot point if desired. Select the Placement tool in the Text Tool settings window, highlight the text box, hold down ⌥ (option key), place your cursor at the new pivot point and drag round to the angle required. You will notice that while dragging, a small grey line marks the rotation for you on the design and the angle field in the Text mode window displays the current rotation angle.
- Continue editing until you are happy with the result and then fix the text to the layer by clicking the Apply button.
Note: During the process of creating and editing text (before applying it to the layer), if you change to a different tool in the Tools Palette, the text will temporarily disappear. Do not be alarmed because as soon as you click back on the Text Tool, the text will reappear.
You can have several text boxes on one layer if you wish, but you may prefer to have separate layers for different pieces of text.
To edit the text layer again in the future, simply activate the relevant layer, reselect the Text Tool in the Tools Palette and choose either the A tool if you wish to amend the text, font or size itself, or choose the Placement tool if you wish to move the text somewhere else.
Note: Ensure the Show Text option is ticked so that you can actually see the new amendments you are making. Then finally click Apply to fix the new changes to the layer once more.
The Movie
Adding text to the Layout Window
Text can be added to any Layout Window. It can be used simply to add labels to colourways or other items on the page, or to list specifications, print data or production information for example.
The Text Tool is part of the Layout Tools Palette. The standard Tools Palette changes when you are in the Layout Window to reflect the tools you can use here. This is because no editing can be done in the Layout Window. You can only recolour and the selection of tools available reflect this.
- Select the Text Tool from the Tools Palette.
- Drag a box on the page at the position where you want to add the text.
- Type the text needed, or if you are bringing it in from somewhere else, copy and paste it into the box.
- Change the font style, size and colour by highlighting the text and then clicking the Fonts button in the toolbar.
Note: If you need to change the size of the text box at any point, simply deselect it by clicking on the page and then reselect it and drag one of its selection nodes to the desired size.
Changing the fonts, style and size
Font styles and weights can be chosen from the Collections, Family and Typeface listings in the Fonts window. The size of the text can be changed by either choosing preset sizes in the Size list; using the slider bar to the right; or manually typing a point size in the Size field.
Changes to font, style and size can be viewed in real time. If you wish to see the fonts and styles available before typing your text, a description with a visual preview can be displayed by dragging the small dot under the word Fonts in the Title bar of the Fonts window downwards, as shown below.
Note: Text must be highlighted to change any of these settings.
Changing the colour of the font
There are two ways to colour your text on the Layout Window. You can either colour from the system colour pickers, or you can colour from your existing colour files. It is important to note that when colouring from system colour pickers, AVA cannot guarantee a colour match. If you wish for your text to be colour matched, we would recommend using the latter option.
Colouring from the system pickers
Change the colour of your text by clicking on the action menu at the bottom right of the Fonts window and choose Colour. Alternatively, click on the colour wheel button at the top of the window.
There is a choice of various system colour pickers, which provide a whole spectrum of colours to choose from.
Colouring from a colour file
When text is added to the page, colours can be dragged to your text from a colour file, The Swatches Palette, or from the Layer Palette. Simply drag and drop the colour chips on to the text to recolour it.
Creating a drop shadow
Add a drop shadow to selected text using the Text Shadow function in the Fonts window. Three slider bars and a small turning disc allow the user to control the intensity, distance and angle of the shadow.
Click on the T button in the centre, at the top of the window to activate the feature. The drop shadow will appear on the selected text and can be controlled by the sliders to the right of the text shadow button. The left slider controls the intensity, the middle slider the blur and the right slider the distance from the actual text.
Note: Once you have finished entering and styling your text, click on the Select Tool in the toolbar, otherwise you will remain in Text mode and will be unable to do anything else in the Layout Window.
Editing and removing text
Existing text can be edited simply by clicking on it. The cursor will change to a pointing hand when you move over the text. A single click will highlight the text box and its nodes, so it can be moved or resized. A double click on the text will highlight the particular word your cursor was on when you double clicked.
If you wish to highlight part or all of the text in the box, simply double click anywhere in the box and the cursor will change to a standard text editing icon, allowing you to drag over the desired text to highlight it. Once highlighted, text can be edited as you wish.
Highlighted text within a text box, or indeed entire text boxes, can be copied and pasted in the usual way. Text boxes can also be duplicated in the Layout Window by clicking on them and choosing Colourway Menu > Duplicate, or clicking on the Duplicate button in the toolbar. Entire text boxes can be deleted from the page by clicking on them and pressing ⌫ (delete key) on the keyboard.
Aligning the text
You can align text within a text box to the left, right and centre as well as justified alignment.
- Highlight the relevant text in a text box, using the Layout Text Tool.
- Go to Edit Menu > Text and select the required alignment choice from the menu.
Users can also choose a different alignment for separate areas of the same text block. Simply highlight each individual section of the text block and choose an alignment option as outlined above.
Spell checking and grammar
You can activate Apple’s built in spelling and grammar tools in AVA. To do this, highlight a word or piece of text, hold down ^ (control key) on the keyboard while clicking on the text and select the desired options from the contextual menu that appears. To check spelling, go to Edit Menu > Spelling and Grammar > Check Spelling While Typing. To check grammar, go to Edit Menu > Spelling and Grammar > Check Grammar With Spelling.
Coming soon to AVA 5.9
- Select the Text Tool from the Tools Palette.
- Drag a box on the page at the position where you want to add the text.
- Type the text needed, or if you are bringing it in from somewhere else, copy and paste it into the box
- Change the font style, size and colour by highlighting the text and clicking on the new font panel at the top of the window
Note: If you need to change the size of the text box at any point, simply deselect it by clicking on the page and then reselect it and drag one of its selection nodes to the desired size.
Changing the colour of the font
There are two ways to colour your text on the Layout Window.
- You can either colour from the system colour pickers by clicking the colour block in the text panel. (It is important to note that when colouring from system colour pickers, AVA cannot guarantee a colour match. If you wish for your text to be colour matched, we would recommend using the below option)
- You can colour from your existing colour files by dragging and dropping a colour onto the text.
Editing and removing text
Existing text can be edited simply by clicking on it. The cursor will change to a pointing hand when you move over the text. A single click will highlight the text box and its nodes, so it can be moved or resized. A double click on the text will highlight the particular word your cursor was on when you double clicked.
If you wish to highlight part or all of the text in the box, simply double click anywhere in the box and the cursor will change to a standard text editing icon, allowing you to drag over the desired text to highlight it. Once highlighted, text can be edited as you wish.
Highlighted text within a text box, or indeed entire text boxes, can be copied and pasted in the usual way. Text boxes can also be duplicated in the Layout Window by clicking on them and choosing Colourway Menu > Duplicate, or clicking on the Duplicate button in the toolbar. Entire text boxes can be deleted from the page by clicking on them and pressing ⌫ (delete key) on the keyboard.
Aligning the text
You can align text within a text box to the left, right and centre as well as justified alignment.
- Highlight the relevant text in a text box, using the Layout Text Tool.
- Go to the text panel and click on your chosen alignment option.
Users can also choose a different alignment for separate areas of the same text block. Simply highlight each individual section of the text block and choose an alignment option as outlined above.
Spell checking and grammar
You can activate Apple’s built in spelling and grammar tools in AVA. To do this, highlight a word or piece of text, hold down ^ (control key) on the keyboard while clicking on the text and select the desired options from the contextual menu that appears. To check spelling, go to Edit Menu > Spelling and Grammar > Check Spelling While Typing. To check grammar, go to Edit Menu > Spelling and Grammar > Check Grammar With Spelling.