In this tutorial, I'll show you how to use InDesign's ability to create type on a curve, and flow that type from one curve to another. Along the way, you'll learn a slick technique for step and repeat and how to apply gradients to text. This technique will work in InDesign CS or later. This technique would also will work in Illustrator, with minor modifications.
How to Create a Flag Graphic with Type in InDesign
Jun 18th in Designing, Text Effects by Keith Gilbert
Final Image Preview
Below is the final image we will be working towards. Want access to the full Vector Source files and downloadable copies of every tutorial, including this one? Join Vector Plus for just 9$ a month.
Step 1 - Draw a Curve in InDesign
Use the Pen Tool (P) or Pencil Tool (N) to draw a wavy line. Use the Stroke panel or Control panel to give the line a 1 pt stroke. We'll remove the stroke later, but it is helpful to have a visible stroke on the line for the next few steps.
Step 2 - Prepare the Curve to Receive Path Type
Click on the Path Type Tool (buried under the Type Tool, or press Shift + T. With the Path Type Tool, click on the curve you drew in Step 1. This will turn the curve into a text path.
Step 3 - Duplicate the Curve
With the Selection (Black Arrow) Tool, click on the curve you drew in step 1. Hold down the Alt and drag the curve down and to the right to duplicate it.
Step 4 - Duplicate the Curve Three More Times
Choose Object > Transform Again > Transform Again, or press Command + Alt + 3. Repeat this two more times, so that you end up with a total of five curves.
Step 5 - Place the Text on the Top Curve
Click on the top curve with the Type Tool. You should see a flashing text cursor on the left side of the curve. Choose File > Place to import a text file onto the curve, or choose File > Paste to paste some text onto the curve from the pasteboard.
Step 6 - Thread the Text to the Next Four Curves
With the Selection Tool, click on the top curve. You should see a red overset text symbol appear on the right end of the line. Click on this overset text symbol to load the text cursor. With the loaded text cursor, click on the second curve. Repeat this procedure (clicking on the overset text symbol and then clicking on the next curve) until you have clicked on all five curves.
Step 7 - Skew the Type
To make the type look more like it is on a wavy flag, the type needs to be skewed. Select all five curves with the Selection Tool. Choose Type > Type on a Path > Options. In the dialog box that appears, change the Effect to Skew, and click the OK button.
Step 8 - Format the Type
Select all the text with the Type Tool, and then use the Character and Paragraph panels, or the Control panel, to format the type as you'd like it to appear. Note that I applied full justification to all the text, to ensure an even right edge, even on the last line.
Step 9 - Remove the Stroke from the Curves
Select all five curves with the Selection tool again, and use the Swatches panel to apply a stroke of None.
Step 10 - Create Two Colors
To make the flag text look more realistic, we are going to apply a gradient to the text that consists of alternating light and dark colors. In the Swatches panel menu, choose New Gradient Swatch, and create two colors, a bright red and a darker red, or any colors you'd like.
Step 11 - Create a Gradient
In the Swatches panel menu, choose New Gradient Swatch. In the dialog box that appears, click on the left-most square under the Gradient Ramp. This square is called a Color Stop. Then change the Stop Color to Swatches, and choose the light color you created in Step 10. Next, click under the colored gradient ramp to create a second color stop, and make this color stop the dark color you created in Step 10. Repeat this three more times until you have five color stops, alternating from light, to dark, to light, to dark, to light.
Step 12 - Apply the Gradient to the Text
Select all of the text with the Type Tool, and then click on the gradient you created in Step 9 in the Swatches panel. You will not be able to see the effect of the gradient until you deselect the text.
Conclusion
Use the Pen Tool to create a path for the flag pole, and add a background photo if you'd like, and you're ready for Independence day!
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User Comments
( ADD YOURS )Miro! June 18th
wtf guyz ?
( )is this 150 bucks worth ? i’m amazed by this useless post.
No offence but you should keep on posting QUALITY instead of QUANTITY.
ty
Jesse Tuck June 18th
I agree. The tuts+ network isn’t what it used to be anymore.
( )Jamie June 18th
I generally refrain from commenting on comments such as yours but you’ve really seemed to have missed the point of tutorials like this.
InDesign isn’t the most intuitive of packages to use and although these techniques are quite basic to the seasoned designer many taking their first steps would read something like this and learn a lot. The step and repeat technique for example and the fact that the author has provided the keyboard short cut is something you just don’t realise you can do just by sitting down and trying to learn the package.
I have been working as a designer for the past 15 years and sit with three other people that have as much experience with the Adobe suite as I have and not a month goes by that we stumble on short cuts we just never knew existed.
My point in all of this being that just because your level of skill renders the tutorial as invalid doesn’t make it a bad tutorial and calling it out in the comments serves no constructive purpose. Was is worth $150? The answer lies in the fact that somebody will read this and gain knowledge from both the tutorial and often the alternative techniques suggested by the readers.
To them Jeff and the team at Envato have supplied something that they will take away and use in a project one day and feel proud at their achievement, to them $150 may be cheap at half the fee!
Someone with the commercial experience of Keith has just passed on a snippet of their knowledge for free, please leave the flaming for games forums and take the tutorials for what they are, an excellent resource.
Jamie
( )Anrkist June 18th
Well said Jamie. I think it’s pretty lame… but I suppose someone who’s never used InDesign might find it useful. There’s really not enough InDesign tutorials, everything is PS or Ill.
That said, you could do a lot better job with this trick in another program and then import it into ID… =] I’ve always seen ID as just that, software you bring things you’ve done elsewhere into. I don’t use it often though.
Saro June 19th
I think this is very usefull for a beginner. There should be more simple tutorials like this of Illustrater. I just can’t figure it out in that software.
( )Palusko June 20th
It is amazing how people can be overly judgmental about FREE stuff. And maybe you should leave Tuts+ decide what is worth $150 to them.
( )Anthony June 18th
HAHAHAHAHA…..are you serious? This is by far one of the worst tutorials ever. Why is this even on here? Anyone with a brain could find out how to do this themselves. What a waste of a tutorial. Tsk Tsk Tsk
( )imie June 18th
some people have no appreciation.
this is really nice and easy to follow.
thank you!
( )Luke June 18th
A little basic, but i didnt know about step 7. Beginners need tuts too, so simple tuts every now and then are ok.
( )Brad June 18th
Great program. Great tutorial. Thank you!
( )overlysimple June 18th
Why do InDesign tutorials keep popping up on vector tuts… Me thinks the tuts need a new family member, layout tuts…
Indesign just doesn’t belong with vector tutorials in my opinion.
( )Dennis June 18th
Oh my god! And to think that tutorials like these can be accepted…i could have posted tutorials like these to.
( )Nikki June 18th
This is a solid tutorial for those just trying to learn InDesign. Simple tutorials are much needed for a variety of different people, just as complex ones are. There’s room for everyone on the web, my friends!
( )- June 18th
there are plenty of tut sites out there for beginners… thats what most of them are… this is tuts PLUS
( )Jer June 18th
I appreciate the tutorial, but I honestly come here with the mindset of the previous comment… this is tuts PLUS. There’s so much stuff out there, is it just getting harder to wow us?
( )pablo June 18th
are we in 1995??
( )Diego SA June 18th
Very simple. The way you inserted the gradient is something new to me, even I having seen it before. I just didn’t remember how to do it. And the step 7 I didn’t know.
( )Jonathan June 18th
All the tuts and tips that are posted can’t be works of art. There is definitely a place for techniques like this. Again, InDesign has a much higher learning curve than Illustrator. When tips like these come along it helps bring into focus another larger project someone may be working on that might need an element with this treatment.
Don’t get discouraged Keith. Thanks for passing some of your info along.
( )lawrence77 June 21st
well said man….
Never Discourage anyone….
( )Simona June 18th
I second Jamie’s and Jonathan’s opinion. Thanks Keith for sharing your knowledge with us.
. I have just learned something again.
( )Tim Smith June 18th
What a simple yet effective technique??!! Great job and thanks for all the great tutorials!
( )akmal June 18th
this is coll…
( )this is new…
even if it is simple but its worthed…
thx 4 sharing d idea…
^_^
sue June 18th
Hi. I am a new learner in Adobe… and I found this tutorial is good for me, new one. Simple thing mean simple life and that also mean that we can all enjoy it. I am good in other field and I won’t mind teaching the basic to my juniors and I am doing that even till now. I appreciate what this tut teach me, though simple yet detail. I am a senior in one field and junior in another, so I hope that those who oppose this tut can make sure they’re always the senior and expert in EVERYthing they do.
( )Steve June 19th
To all of you talking trash about this tutorial, try to remember that Tuts+ wasn’t designed specifically for you. I guarantee you some people have followed this tutorial already, and more will. The fact that you expect this site to provide what *you* want is absurd.
I find the attitude people tend to have repulsive regarding this. If a website is generating FREE content for you, you don’t have the right to complain about it. If you’ve been helped even once by this free site, you’ve been helped more than enough.
On the other hand, constructive feedback (Great introductory InDesign tutorial, looking forward to advanced flag tutorials in Illustrator) makes sense.
Sorry for such a preachy first post, I just can’t stand to see a good site get put down for considering its novice audience.
( )Bas June 19th
There are beginners here too. I wish you guys all the best. And keep sending them ID tutorials (for more experienced people too
) Cheers…
( )Alex Beltechi June 19th
There are online galleries for well polished final images. This is a tutorial site, not a design inspiration blog, so the accent should always be on technique, not on the final image. Making a nice final result makes the learning process more enjoyable, but as soon as someone explains a simple or even a good technique without worrying too much about the aesthetics, people reach conclusions like “envato is not what it used to be”.
I’m sure that most readers make an impression of the tutorials based on the screenshots, without even reading a word.
( )lawrence77 June 21st
Yes, many
( )Mario D June 25th
I’m assuming many people missed the point of this tutorial. You need to look beyond the preview image.
This tutorial is NOT about how to create a flag out of words. It is an example on how to curve text around a path in inDesign. This technique is quite useful for anybody that has ever used the program.
Thank you for this tutorial Keith.
( )ryan August 13th
I am an expert in PS and make a living designing, but never use InDesign for anything. This tutorial was very helpful for me. Thanks!
( )Boris October 6th
Why File > Paste in Step 5? I’m Win XP ID CS4 and dont have command File > Paste
( )sandeep October 12th
gud for beginners……pls keep posting such type of tuts
( )Nkosi November 15th
I really enjoyed this tut. I was searching for a Illustrator tutorial to create a flag and I came across this. I learned a few tricks that I will apply to the project I’m currently working on.
Everybody who is belittling this post should be ashamed of themselves. There are beginners who will learn a lot from this post.
As Mario D. said a few posts back,
“This tutorial is NOT about how to create a flag out of words. It is an example on how to curve text around a path in inDesign. This technique is quite useful for anybody that has ever used the program.”
Thanks Keith.
( )Nkosi November 15th
BTW, my avatar was made in InDesign. It was one of my first projects in Desktop Publishing class when I started college. I obviously wouldn’t use this program to do this type of work, but doing it in InDesign taught me a lot about the program and its tools.
( )