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Inspiring
March 3, 2017
Answered

Can I "warp" text in CC InDesign? NOT wrap, "warp."

  • March 3, 2017
  • 4 replies
  • 52736 views

Can I "warp" text in CC InDesign? NOT wrap, "warp," like in Photoshop (i.e. "Bulge," "Arch," "Arc," "Flat" etc.).

Thanks, Scott

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Correct answer Barb Binder

No, but you can do it in Photoshop as you indicated, or in Illustrator, and then place the resulting warped text into an InDesign document.

4 replies

michaelp798
Participating Frequently
August 18, 2018

Thanks for sharing with us.

Participant
January 23, 2018

It would seem logical that inDesign would have the ability to warp text. inDesign has wonderful type handling tools…Warp would be a nice addition. If anyone is listening..:)

Steve Werner
Community Expert
Community Expert
January 23, 2018

This isn't the place for feature requests if you want the product managers to see them.

Instead post them here:

Feature Requests/Bugs

Barb Binder
Community Expert
Community Expert
March 3, 2017

Hi Scott: Uwe gave you the Photoshop workflow.

Here's an alternative. Do you have the CC subscription? If so, you have Illustrator. You might not know Ai well yet, but this is very straightforward and Ai is a vector application so no worries about rasterizing.

  1. Make a new document.
  2. Click with the Type tool (don't drag out a frame) and type in the text. Format.
  3. Select the text with the Selection tool.
  4. Click the triangle next to the Warp button to make sure "Make with Warp" is checked.
  5. Click the Warp button. Pick your desired warp—the ones you mentioned are listed.
  6. When done, switch to the Artboard tool and fit the artboard to the text. Artwork bounds will always work, Selected art if it is still selected.
  7. Use File > Place in InDesign.
  8. Observe the links panel—no resolution (actual or effective PPI) listed because it's a vector file.
  9. If you want to refine the warp, click the Pencil button to hop back to Ai, fix it, save and return.
~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
scottyb34Author
Inspiring
March 3, 2017

Wow. Now THAT is a definitive and detailed answer. A big thanks to both you, Barb, and Uwe.

I only wish I could simply use the "warp" function in Photoshop (and InDesign) because it's just so much quicker and easier. Just click, move the sliders and your done. Oh well, a this point I'll take what I can get.

Thanks again to both of you.

Much appreciated,

Scott

Barb Binder
Community Expert
Community Expert
March 3, 2017

Glad we could help.

~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
Barb Binder
Community Expert
Barb BinderCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
March 3, 2017

No, but you can do it in Photoshop as you indicated, or in Illustrator, and then place the resulting warped text into an InDesign document.

~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
scottyb34Author
Inspiring
March 3, 2017

Thanks for the quick and concise answer, Barb. It took me two hours to get that simple question answered elsewhere.

Excuse my ignorance, but I'm awaiting the InDesign 2017 manual from my local library.

That said, I thought all formatting was lost when placing text into InDesign. Or has that changed with Creative Cloud InDesign 2017?

In addition, I was sternly warned NOT to rasterize text prior to importing to InDesign (this is for print, by the way). Won't the text first have to be rasterized in Photoshop then placed into InDesign?

Community Expert
March 3, 2017

Hi Scott,

don't rasterize text, if you don't have to.
The best format you can import to InDesign is PDF.


Save a PDF/X-4 out of PhotoShop and place that.

Or a PDF with a similar pdf-version number ( 1.4 and above ).
Do not downsample images while exporting.

Do not use PhotoShop's own psd format with InDesign.

All vector information in the psd would be rasterized with InDesign's export to PDF.

The placed PDF would stay intact as possible.

At least vector information would not be rasterized.

Regards,
Uwe