Distortions and the Shaper Tool

Distortions and the Shaper Tool Settings

The Shaper Tool

The 45 shapes included in the Shape Library are the most popular text shapes, however TypeStyler is not intended to deliver just the basics. You can customize these shapes with ease, and by keeping a file of your documents that contain customized shapes (somewhat like saving templates), you can add to the overall selection of shapes that are available to you. The most powerful means of customizing TypeStyler's basic text shapes is with the Shaper tool and the Distortion menu options that work with it.

The Shaper tool bends and stretches the shapes of TypeStyler objects. Located in the Tool Palette of the main window, the Shaper is actually a pair of tools. The tool that reshapes the top of the text block (the Cap Height, the font's maximum height) is the top green line, and the one that reshapes the bottom of the text block (the baseline) is the bottom green line. The Shaper tool can appear as a pair of straight lines, curves, a line and a curve, or in the case of circular text, two arcs. You can use the Shaper tool on any shape of text or panel object.

The Distortion Menu

Options in the Distortion menu allow you to constrain the object while you shape it. In the Distortion menu's Distortion Options submenu, you can select Flexible (the default), Parallel, Square, or Rectangular and then distort text objects freely between the Shaper lines or curves; or you can choose Align Top or Align Bottom to make the object "hug" the contours of the top or the bottom. Choose whether a filled image is clipped or distorted in the shaped object. (See below for more about the Distortion Options submenu.) You can combine the effects of more than one Shape Controls submenu option in a text object, but you'll find that certain combinations simply negate each other (for example, you can't both Mirror Left and Right and Link Left and Right, so TypeStyler won't let you select those two opposing options together). Any shape in the Distortion menu can be applied to a selected TypeStyler object.

Distortion Options

Through the options provided in the Distortion Options... dialog, TypeStyler allows several different typographical constraints to be imposed on the characters within a text object. These constraints can greatly increase the quality of typographical output. They also allow TypeStyler to create typographical effects which were previously difficult to achieve.

To better understand the nature of these new shaping options, we should first have an understanding of the structural elements of type.

For each character in a font, there is a perfect rectangle which just encloses it. This rectangle is often called a frame. Frames are very important to TypeStyler, because the dimensions of the frames help TypeStyler to size the character to the text object's shape and to fit adjacent characters together neatly within the shape.

In an undistorted character, the sides of the frame are vertical, and the top and bottom of the rectangle are horizontal. Those lines in the character itself which are vertical, and thus parallel to the sides of the character frame, are called the side bearings of the character. The new shaping options in TypeStyler impose constraints on the shape of the object as a whole, and consequently on the side bearings of the characters within the object.

The new shaping options are available through the Shape Options... dialog in the Distortion menu. The shaping options are not available for circular objects, because circular objects are constructed in a way that makes the shaping options inapplicable. Unlike other options in the Distortion menu, the Shape Options... dialog is available only when there is one active object.
There are four shaping options available under Character Shape: Flexible, Parallel, Squared, and Rectangular. In addition, the Shape Options... dialog provides options for selecting Mapping Precision and also for the alignment of text objects created with the Rectangular option.

To select a shaping option, click its radio button or anywhere within the shape itself. Pressing the Tab key will advance the selection to the next shaping option. Pressing the Option key in conjunction with the Tab key will cycle the selection in the opposite direction.

Flexible

Flexible shapes objects, with no constraints applied to the shape or to the character side bearings. Each character frame is allowed to distort so that it becomes a quadrilateral a four-sided object, where the angle between the sides and the top and bottom can be any value, and where the sides are not necessarily parallel. The tops, bottoms, and sides of the characters are free to distort. From the flexible example, it is clear that the side bearings of the characters do not point in the same direction, but are spread out as in a fan.

Parallel

The parallel option forces the sides of the character frames to be parallel to the far left side of the object, and thus to each other. In addition, the tops and bottoms of the characters are distorted to fit the shape of the object as cleanly as possible. In the Parallel example, the side bearings of the characters are all pointing in the same direction, and the tops of the characters have been distorted to fit the curve of the shape smoothly.

Squared

The Squared option is a special case of the Parallel option, in that in addition to forcing the sides of the characters to be parallel, they must also be perpendicular to the top or bottom line of the shape, whichever is straight. If neither the top nor the bottom of the shape is straight, TypeStyler orients the side bearings perpendicular to an imaginary straight line that is perpendicular to the left edge of the object. As the squared example shows, this gives a "squared" effect. As in the parallel example, the tops of the characters have been distorted to fit the curve of the shape smoothly.

Rectangular

The Rectangular option is similar to the Squared option, except that the tops and bottoms of the characters are not allowed to conform to the shape of the object. The rectangular example shows that this gives the text object a discrete, stepped appearance. This is how you get "text along a path".

The ability to curve and distort the tops and bottoms of characters within a text object while maintaining straight side bearings is known as vertical arcing. Vertical arcing is prevalent in both the parallel and squared shape options. The squared shape option provides a special type of vertical arcing known as plumb curves. This effect is so called because the side bearings of the characters are kept straight and vertical, or plumb. Vertical arcing and plumb curves are standard display type distortions previously possible only through the use of expensive optical equipment.

For both the Parallel and Squared shaping options, TypeStyler restricts the movement of control points during shaping to be within the channel between the left and right edges of the object.

This constraint is present to prevent the excessive object distortion that would occur if the control points could be moved beyond the left or right edge of the object.

Rectangular Alignment

When the Rectangular shaping option is selected, the Rectangular Alignment options Align To Top and Align To Bottom become available. Align To Bottom is the default. The rectangular example in the Character Shape window will show the appropriate alignment.

Precision Mapping

TypeStyler provides the option of converting all of the straight lines in the characters of a text object to Bezier curves. For those object shapes in which the top or bottom is curved, converting the straight lines of characters to Bezier curves allows TypeStyler to fit the text much more tightly to the shape, The check box Curve Straight Lines turns this feature on and off. For all shaping options except Rectangular (for which it is not applicable), the default is on.
Curve Straight Lines can provide greatly improved typographic quality, especially for those text objects which have curved Shaper lines and whose text is predominantly made up of straight lines.
Beneath the check box there are two radio buttons, Faster and Better. These instruct TypeStyler as to the precision with which it should calculate the fitting of curves to shapes. Faster is the default, and is more than adequate for all but the most severely distorted curves. Better fits the curves slightly better, but it takes much longer and the difference in quality is only discernible in rare instances when severe curves induce kinking which the Faster setting cannot smooth satisfactorily. The concave TEXT graphic in the dialog shows the difference in quality between the two selections.

Image Distortion

When the Clip is selected the image in the distorted object is clipped. When Distort is selected the filled image is distorted to take the shape of the object.

The Shaper Tool's Relation to the Shape Menu

Options in the Shape Menu determine how the Shaper tool modifies an object, often by protecting one or more facets of a shape while other facets are changed. TypeStyler is designed to continue approximating the basic shape and style of an object as you distort it.

When you select the Shaper tool, only the most appropriate Shape menu options for the selected object are check marked in the Shape menu. Options that are inconsistent are not checked, and if you click them, they will replace the previous selections. For example, if you try to select Mirror Left and Right after you've selected Link Left and Right, the mirror command will override the link command.

Shape Controls

The Shape Controls submenu allows you to set how the object's Shaper lines are controlled. One object must be selected and the Shaper tool must be active. Each of the options are described below.

Independent Controls

The Independent Controls option (Option-Command-I) lets you individually manipulate the Shaper line control points that shape your object, with no linkage to other control points. Independent Controls deselects the following Link and Mirror options, if any are selected.

Link Top and Bottom

You can manipulate both the top and bottom Shaper lines and control points of an object in tandem by selecting Link Top and Bottom (Option-Command-J). With this setting, the top and bottom Shaper lines are identically adjusted; whichever way you move one Shaper line or control point, its counterpart moves in the same direction.

Mirror Top and Bottom

Mirror Top and Bottom (Option-Command-K) reverses the linkage between the top and bottom Shaper lines. With this setting, adjustments to the Shaper lines' or curves' endpoints and control points are mirrored. Dragging one Shaper line or curve causes its counterpart to move equally in the opposite direction.

Link Left and Right

You can manipulate both the left and right sides of Shaper lines in tandem by selecting Link Left and Right (Option-Command-L). With this setting, an adjustment to a Shaper line or control point on one side of an object, causes the opposite Shaper line or control point to move equally in the same direction.

Mirror Left and Right

Mirror Left and Right (Command-M) reverses the linkage between the left and right Shaper lines. With this setting, adjustments to the Shaper lines' or curves' endpoints and control points are mirrored. Dragging one Shaper line, curve, or control point causes its counterpart to move equally in the opposite direction.

Curve Top

You can convert the top Shaper line of an object into a Bezier curve by selecting the Curve Top option (Command-Y). The result is a line with two mid-line control points that look like small x's, and the usual endpoints. You shape the curve by dragging the control points and endpoints. For specific instructions, see "Curve Top and Bottom Shaper Lines" below.

Curve Bottom

You can convert the bottom Shaper line of an object into a Bezier curve by selecting the Curve Bottom option (Command-H). The result is a line with two mid-line control points that look like small x's, and the usual endpoints. You shape the curve by dragging the control points and endpoints. For specific instructions, see "Curve Top and Bottom Shaper Lines" below.

Double Beziers

TypeStyler shapes objects by fitting them into an envelope defined by an upper and lower Shaper line. By selecting Double Bezier in the Shape Controls menu each Shaper line is defined by two Bezier curves. This enables more precise shaping control, and allows for the creation of shapes based on compound curves having two inflection points per Shaper line.

These selections are only available when the Shaper Tool is active. Selecting Double Bezier Controls adds a second set of Bezier control points to the object:

Once Double Bezier Controls has been selected, the Smooth Center Joins selection becomes visible. This is an option which affects the point which separates the Double Bezier curves on the Shaper line. By default, this option is not active, and the two Bezier curves are independent. With the option selected, the two Bezier curves become interdependent such that the entire Shaper line is made smooth and continuous. This is best illustrated with an example. The Double Bezier example on the left does not have Smooth Center Joins selected, and so a peaked center point is possible. The example on the right does have the option selected, and the peaked center point has been smoothed.

Using the Temporary Override Shape Menu Key Commands

Override key commands are available to temporarily activate Shape menu commands while you are shaping a text object. These commands use the same letters as the permanent command key equivalents in the Shape menu (only you do not press the Command key). The temporary commands apply only to the currently selected object and the operation you want to perform; as soon as you select another option or tool, previous Shape menu selections are restored.

For example, to "tweak" a single control point without disturbing the settings in the Shape Options submenu, press and hold the "I" key. You can now move each control point separately. Release the I key and the control points will return to their previous settings.

I - Independent Control
J - Link Top And Bottom
K - Mirror Top And Bottom
L - Link Left And Right
M - Mirror Left And Right

Note: There is no temporary override command to Link or Mirror Top and Bottom when you have a circular object selected; otherwise, the temporary key commands apply to circular objects just as they do to polygons.

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