Text inside Pre-Defined Shapes

[120YCoupe]

The instructions tell me to position the Text tool cursor inside the shape's outline until it changes to a Text cursor box, but I can only get the Text cursor box when the cursor it at the edge of the shape, and then the text is stuck to the outside or inside of the outline of the shape. I can get text inside the shape but it's not attached to it or related to it in any way. I can get text inside some shapes, usually the ones I don't want, but for instance the Callout shapes I can't.

What's happening?

 

[Brushman]

If you mean test wrapping inside a shape try this,
1. Draw you shape
2. Create paragraph text and select
3. Effects - envelope
4. Click on eye dropper icon from envelope box
5. This turns into a pointer, point on shape edge and click
6. Text takes on shape, click on apply

Hope this is what you had in mind

 

[120YCoupe]

I couldn't get that to work, but thanks anyway. I either got a cursor with a zig-zag box next to it, or the message "The object you selected is invalid". It's those Pre-defined Shapes on the tool bar that I'm on about, and the problem is that with most of them all I can get the text to do is take on the shape of the shape. But I want the text inside the shape in normal horizontal lines, for example, those Callout shapes. Have a go, see if you can do it.

 

[javabearSTL]

You mean the "Perfect" shapes, not "pre-defined" shapes. Technically, anything you import or bring into Draw that you did not physically draw out yourself is a "pre-defined shape" and can be confusing when you don't call the tools by their names.

All you have to do is take your "shape" (it must be a vector, closed-curve shape and not a bitmap), then go select the text tool. When selected, the Text Tool cursor looks like an "A" with crosshairs. When you hold the text tool over a shape and you get the cursor to look like an "A" with a tilde (~) underneath it, you're in the "fit text to path mode" - you don't want that. When you put the text tool *inside* the shape but close to the edge, you'll get a cursor that looks like "AB" surrounded by a box. Click once when your cursor's like this and you'll then get a dashed line inside the object. You've now placed a text box inside a shape.

The other way to do this is to take the text tool and draw a square with it, this creates a text box/paragraph text. Go type your text. Then go draw a shape or import a shape. Right-click the text box, drag it on top of the shape and let go. Choose the "place text inside" option of the dialog box.

FYI you can always remove the text from the object that created the shape and still have the paragraph text object retain that shape by choosing Arrange | Break Paragraph Text Inside A Path Apart.

A tip to new users out there - look in the Help file of the application. Most of the questions asked here and in other forums can be answered there.

 

[120YCoupe]

Excellent, that's the one; right clicking the text box and dragging onto the shape, that works; thank you JavabearSTL.

But nope, I don't mean 'Perfect' shapes, they are definitely called pre-defined shapes. I should have mentioned what version of CD I'm using; it's version 10. These pre-defined shapes are on the tool bar and there's a selection of them; basic shapes, arrow shapes, star shapes, flowchart shapes and callout shapes, and the instruction book explanation for how to get text inside them doesn't work. The Help menu mentions how to get text inside pre-defined 'forms', and it's the same way as for pre-defined shapes in the instruction book. It just says 'position the Text tool inside the shape's outline until it changes to a Text cursor box', but it only does that at the edge of the shape on most of them, and then you get the text on the edge of the shape.