When attempting to rotate objects, especially text elements within Adobe Illustrator, you may have noticed that the alignment doesn’t always work as planned. This can cause the text to appear strange and misaligned. Many people who use Adobe Illustrator wonder what is the right process to rotate text within this software.

The best way to approach this issue is to try and understand how rotating in Illustrator works. If you want to rotate the text, it will appear different depending on the enclosed object. However, with a simple step of converting the text type, you can achieve the look you are going for. 

So, now that you know about this basic tip for rotating text in Adobe Illustrator, you are all set to get started with rotation! In this article, we will go over the multiple ways you can rotate text in Adobe Illustrator and what kinds of different looks you can achieve with each approach! Keep reading this article to learn even more!

Rotating Text With Adobe Illustrator

No matter what you are trying to achieve, there is a process within Adobe Illustrator to make it happen. So, let’s look at three different approaches you can use for rotation with this software to make your text stand out!

Use The Text Box To Rotate

One of the easiest ways to rotate text using the built-in tools is to rotate the text’s box. When using Illustrator, you will notice that all text elements are placed in a box that covers the entire area of the characters. This is how to rotate this:

1. Launch Adobe Illustrator on your device of preference.
2. Start a new project and then use the Type Tool to add text to the file.
3. Convert the text layer to Point Type. You can do this by choosing ‘Select Type’ in the Type menu, and then choosing the option ‘Convert to Point Type.’
4. Select the text box, and hover a little bit outside the anchors.
5. You will now see a double-arrow curved icon on the side.
6. Click the icon, and then rotate to the direction you want to go.

Once you release your mouse, you can lock in the rotation of the text box. You can confirm and keep the changes if you are happy with them.

Here is a tutorial of the most common methods used to transform and rotate text when you are using Adobe Illustrator that you need to check out:

Use The Built-In Transform Tool

Another one of the tools that you can use to rotate text is the built-in Free Transform tool. This will allow you to universally transform many of the elements within your Illustrator document. To follow this method, you can follow these steps:

1. In Adobe Illustrator, create a new text element.
2. Now, select the text layer and click on the Object menu at the top.
3. From here, choose ‘Transform’ and then ‘Rotate.’
4. Now, you can rotate the layer through the Rotate dialog box. 
5. Add in the angle you want to rotate you and confirm the changes.

The text element will now be rotated according to the angle that you decided on. This is a great way to rotate multiple areas of text, especially when there is a specific angle that you want to rotate them against. 

Using The Rotate Tool

Finally, you can use the built-in rotate tool to transform text elements. All you need to use is the keyboard shortcut R while selecting the text layer. You can then see a text anchor point, using which you can rotate the layer. 

The great thing about this method is that you can also change the anchor point’s location. This allows you to rotate the text at specific angles across a specific point, which does not necessarily have to be across the center point of the text layer.

Final Thoughts

Changing how a layer of text is oriented on Adobe Illustrator is incredibly easy. Not only that, but it is a quick way to change how any project looks and make it much more fascinating to the eye. 

Which method will you be trying out? Remember, with a little bit of practice, these Illustrator tools will become incredibly easy and intuitive to use!