Adobe Illustrator CS3 Tip – A Colorful Solution to a Type Area Problem
July 31, 2008 – 4:32 pm | by J. Rodriguez
Layers Magazine Tip of the Day – Adobe Illustrator CS3 Tip – A Colorful Solution to a Type Area Problem
A former student, called with a question about Illustrator’s Area Type that comes up quite often. She started, "I’ve created a Text Area object by clicking and dragging with the Type tool (T). I would like to make this object into a type panel in my design with a color fill and inset text. How do I fill the Area Type object? No matter what I’ve tried, I just keep changing the Fill color of the type, not its background." I answered, "The trick is selecting the Area Type object without selecting the type that it contains.
To do so, click once on the edge of this Type object with either the Direct Selection tool (A) or the Group Selection tool. Now, when you pick a fill color from the Swatches panel, it will fill the inside of the Type Area, leaving the text itself unchanged.
To inset your text from the edge of its container, Go to Type>Area Type Options and in the window that opens, increase the Inset Spacing in the Offset section, and press OK. Viola! You just created a type panel with a filled background and inset text."
Tip provided by Jeff Witchel, Adobe® Certified Training Provider.
