Another newbie question about type on a path

Suz,

Thank you for sharing.

"I had assumed that Illustrator would have a "magic button" that could do what I needed, but I guess sometimes good old brute force is called for"

Over the years quite a few magic buttons have been added, but it is impossible to (foresee and) enable (the fulfillment of) all possible wishes.

And, even if there are seemingly comparable new and easy ways, some things can still only/best be done by what I prefer to call good old (fashioned) design skill/work.

Changing the font size or font type may also help you.

For my part you are welcome, Suz.

I believe we all hope that you will report your findings.

Suz,

You can duplicate the path that you apply the Type on a Path to (maybe a few times), then apply some of the text to the original path and lock it, then continue on the duplicate(s).

And you may use different means to adjust the live Type (with the Type Tool and inserting or selectingthe relevant parts), including:

1) Inserting extra spaces at the corners to directly separate/avoid overlaps, as mentioned above,

2) Selecting the different parts of the Type (between corners) to be treated together and then adjusting the Tracking to stretch or contract each part for best fit,

3) With the same selection(s) as in 2), you may switch between Auto and Optical kerning to optimize how it looks.

Try increasing the kerning ( space between letters ).  Also, try reducing or increasing the size of the text.  Customize the behavior of the layout.

Suz,

You may be able to get there with one string of live Type by adjusting where you start and inserting spaces.

Or you may split it, using duplicate paths.

I'm not sure there is an easy way to solve this. I always use type on a path on curves, never corners. You could add spaces manually or you can round the corners. Convert the corners with convert button in your control panel using your direct selection tool (the white arrow).