• Select the text or object you want to convert to a bitmap.
• Choose Modify/Convert To Bitmap.

The text is now an image and is not editable as text. Because is it's an image, you can apply filters such as Gaussian blur, motion blur, and perspective shadow which will covered later in the tutorial.

Converting Text to a Path

Text is an object; by converting it to a path (any line containing at least two points), each letter becomes a separate path object. One reason to choose the Convert Text To Paths option is if you are sharing files with someone who may not have the same fonts on their machine. This ensures that the correct font is embedded within the file as a vector shape of the font. Keep in mind that this applies only for sharing files, not on the Internet. For use on a Web page, the font you use in a graphic is exported as an image, so it doesn't matter whether it's a path or not.

• Type a letter; make it large enough that you see it well enough to distort it.
• Select the text, and choose Text/Convert to Paths. The letters are converted into a path and are automatically grouped together.
• Choose the Subselection tool (white arrow) and click your type to select it.
• You can see a bunch of little nodes; by clicking and dragging these nodes, you can alter your text.

You can actually create interesting looking font by dragging the little nodes to distort the letters. Look at the letter B below. By using the subselection tool, I drug out the the nodes in several directions to give it a more classic look.

Putting Text on a Path

Making your text do acrobatic feats around a path doesn't require any special training. Text doesn't have to conform to rectangular blocks, but can be attached to any path that you draw and still remain editable. To put text on a path follow these steps:

• Select the pen or brush tool from the toolbar. Unless you have had experience in working with the pen tool, I would use the paint tool for this activity. Draw a curvy path that is open; in other words, don't close it by connecting the first and last parts.
• Select the Text tool from the toolbar and type some text anywhere in your document.
• To get the text to wrap around the curve, select the text and Shift+Click to select the path as well.
• Select Text/Attach to Path, and the text wraps around the curve. You still have a few steps to go to get the text to look equally aligned along the path.
• To edit the text, double-click the text to open the Text Editor. Highlight the text and adjust the alignment settings (left, center, right, or justify). The below text on a path is aligned justified.

• Changing the Flow of the Text can be done not only with the alignment option at the text dialog box, but with one of the following:
  • Choose Text/Orientation and one of the options Rotate Around Path as shown above, Vertical, Skew Vertical, or Skew Horizontal. Try each of these options to see what effect they give.
  • For the most control, use the Text Offset option in the Object panel (Window>Object). This enables you to use negative values as well as positive values to position the test. This option requires trial and error. Because you can press the Enter key after each change and see the result it makes, it's easy to keep trying different settings.
  • Choose Modify/Transform/Numeric Transform. The choices you have in this dialog box are Scale, Resize, and Rotate. Then, you choose the percentage of change you want to occur; if you want just the height or just the width to change, be sure to uncheck the Constrain Proportions option.

Editing Text on a Path

If you decide you want to change the text in any way, or to change the path that the text wraps around, then follow these easy steps:

• Select the text and the path object and choose Text/Detach From Path.
• Double-click the text to open the Text Editor and then make the necessary alterations.
• Click the Subselection tool and then click the text and/or path you want to alter. The Subselector tool enables you to click and drag the individual points. The path for the text or the curve can be either horizontal or vertical, and the option can produce some pretty interesting effects.

A Simple Company Logo Using Text on a Path

• Open the image you wish to use for your logo. If you are doing this as a tutorial you can use the image I used below:

• Draw a curved path over the top of the image. The pen, pencil, or paintbrush tool can be used. The color doesn't matter because you will not see the path once the text is attached to it. To help smooth out the path, choose Modify/Alter Path/Simplify. If you want to create a more prefect circle, follow the directions below:
  • Select the Ellipse Tool
  • Holding down the Shift Key, draw out a Circle.
  • Select the Knife/Eraser Tool (On Bitmap images, the Knife Tool changes to the Eraser Tool. This causes some confusion, but just remember the Knife is for Vectors, and the Eraser is for Bitmaps)
  • Click and drag across the circle (starting and finishing at the two points)
  • Click on the path with the Knife Tool.
  • Click the V Key to select the Pointer Tool and move the circle.
• Select the Type tool (the button with that displays the letter A), click on the canvas, and type the text you wish to display around the image. Select the font color, size, and type that would look best with the graphic you selected.
• Select the text and Shift+click to select the path as well.
• Select Text/Attach to Path, and the text wraps around the curve. You're text still might need a little editing to get the letters at the same angles.
• To edit the text, double-click the text to open the Text Editor. Highlight the text and adjust the alignment settings. Try the different alignment options.
• If it still doesn't look quite right, try the options listed above. With the text selected choose Text/Orientation/Vertical. Experiment with the other options. Try Text/Orientation/Skew Vertical.
• Text begins to wrap around at the first point you drew. If this placement isn't to you liking, you can alter the position of the text on the path by using any of these methods:
  • From the Text Editor, choose the alignment you want, such as center, right, left, justified, stretched, horizontal, or vertical.
  • Choose Text/Orientation and one of the the options Rotate Around Path, Vertical, Skew Vertical, or Skew Horizontal.
  • For the most control, use the Text Offset option in the Object panel. This enable you to use negative values as well as positive values to position the text. This option requires trial and error. Because you can press the Enter key after each change and see the result it makes, it's easy to keep trying different settings.
  • Choose Modify/Transform/Numeric Transform. The choices you have in this dialog box are Scale, Resize, and Rotate. Then, you choose the percentage of change you want to occur; if you want just the height or just the width to change, be sure to uncheck the Constrain Proportions option.
• This is what my logo looked like with text aligned at the top:

Placing Text on the Top and Bottom of an Ellipse

To place text on both the top and bottom of an image, the path has to be cut in half, forming two arcs, and then the direction of the bottom type has to be reversed.

• Decide what image you would like to place in the center of your ellipse and open it. I am going to use the same image I used above.
• Increase the canvas enough to be able to draw a circle around the image and have room for the text. It's better to have it too gig, because you can always crop the image when you are done.
• To help draw the ellipse to fit around the image, choose View/Rulers. Click the Rulers checkbox if there isn't a checkmark there already.
• To use guides, click and drag from the vertical ruler (you will see a green line as you drag) and place the line near the right edge of the image. Repeat for the other side. You might have to play with this feature but the end result will be a vertical green line on both the right and left side of the image.
• Click and drag horizontal guide line down from the horizontal ruler and place it on top of the image, leaving a little space so that the text doesn't touch the image. Repeat this step for the bottom of the image. The guides are to help you draw the path for the ellipse.
• From the toolbar, click the Ellipse tool.
• Place the cursor in the top-left corner of the guide intersection and drag a circle to the bottom-right corner of the guide intersection.
• Select the path with the Selection tool. From the toolbar, select the Knife tool . To cut a straight line, hold the Shift key as you slice horizontally. You can slice anywhere you want; it doesn't have to be in the center. You will need to adjust the path for the text you will be using.
• Type the text for the top; use the font of your choice.
  • Open the Effect panel (Window>Effects) and apply any effects you'd like. To experiment with different patterns, open the fill panel and choose Pattern form the pop-up menu in the Fill category. Next, select the pattern by clicking the pop-up menu next to the Pattern Name box and choosing a pattern.
  • To add a bevel, click the Effect panel, click the down arrow, and choose Bevel and Emboss/Inner Bevel. If you don't like the way your text looks, select the effect you wish to delete, then click the garbage can decal at the bottom right hand corner of the effects panel.
• Shift+select the top text, and the top ellipse, and choose Text/Attach to Path.
• Double-click the text to make any adjustments. For text options, see the above suggestions.
• Now you will attach the bottom text. Select both the text and the bottom ellipse by holding the Shift key down as you select both. Choose Modify/Transform/Flip Horizontal.
• The text now is on the inside of the path instead of on the outside; to get the text on the other side of the path, you need to change the baseline shift. Double-click the text, and in the Text Editor, set the baseline shift to a value that will make the text under the image line up where you want it. The baseline shift box is located on the left of the Anti-aliasing levels pop-up; it's got the two As next to it. I had to enter a negative number to align my text where I wanted it to go.
• Use the horizontal scale (the button with the A over an arrow) to stretch or compress your text.
• If your text is still offset to one side or the other, select both the text and the eclipse (Shift+select) and open the Object's panel (Window>Object). At the bottom right hand side of the panel, there is a box that is called Text Offset. Type a number in the box to see how it affects the alignment of the text.
• To readjust the text just a bit, select it and nudge it by using the left or right-arrow key.
• To add a drop shadow, select the text, click the effect panel (Window>Effect), click the down arrow, and choose Shadow And Glow/Drop Shadow. Experiment with the Distance and Softness settings at this box.

Editing Text with Transform Tools

Four transform tools are available in Fireworks 4:

• Scale
• Skew
• Distort
• Numeric Transformation

These can be applied to any text object. By using the transform tools, text can be resized, rotated, slanted, and pulled out of shape and still be fully editable.

Text can be transformed either as a path object or as a pixel image. The Transform As A Path option is the default, which produces much smoother edges that look less jagged. Of course, in some instances, you may prefer the rough jagged edge look.

Skew

To skew text is to distort it; before skewing text, be sure to have the bounding box the same size as the text. The Skew Transform tool affects all the text object, including the excess area in the bounding box. To skew text, follow these steps:

• Click the object to be skewed.
• Click the Skew Transform tool located under scale options .
• Choose Modify/Transform/Slew.
• You now have access to the points. By dragging them you alter the shape. To add perspective, click and drag a corner point, the result is shown below:

Rotate

Rotating object pivot from their center points. If you want to change the point of pivot, simply move the center point by clicking and dragging. Rotation can be applied manually or with preset settings from the menu bar. To rotate text, follow these steps:

• Click the object to be rotated.
• To rotate 180 degrees or 90 degrees, choose Modify/Rotate Canvas;180 degrees, 90 degrees CW, or 90 degrees CCW.
• To rotate visually select any of the Transform tools. I choose this one to rotate my text. I just flipped the above text
• Move the cursor outside the area with the points and you will see the Rotation Pointer. It is an arrow in circular form.
• Simply click and drag in the direction you would like to rotate. To constrain the rotation, Shift+click and drag.

Distort

Distorting text is similar to using the Skew Transform tool, except that its points react a bit differently. To distort text, follow these steps:

• Select the object you want to distort.
• Click any Transform tool.
• Drag points to adjust the shape.

Numeric Transform

Instead of dragging to make your transformations, you can do it numerically by following these steps:

• Select the object to transform.
• Select Modify/Transform/Numeric Transform. From the Numeric Transform dialog box, you can select Scale, Resize, or Rotate. If you deselect the Scale Attributes checkbox, any of the effects or strokes added won't scale with the object.

The transform tools will come in really handy when you want to make special text effects or object effects for use in an animation. By simply rotating the text or by making it larger or smaller, you can produce interesting changes for an animation.