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Knowing how to manipulate text is essential when working on logos and graphic designs in Photoshop. More often them naught, the font you choose to use won’t perfectly match up with your design. So how do you stretch and warp letters to make them work?
Letters and fonts in Photoshop can be stretched in three different ways:
- Warp mode
- Covert text to shapes
- Warp Text
Whether you want to stretch a font to extend the length of a logo or elongate individual letters for a fun effect, it’s helpful to know the steps to take to get the job done. Below, you will find a simple guide on stretching letters and fonts in Photoshop in three different ways.
How To Stretch A Font In Photoshop Using Warp Mode
Photoshop’s warp mode is a fantastic tool for warping text, images, and shapes. If you would like to stretch an individual letter or font, this is definitely the place to start.
First, grab the Text tool and type out the letter you’d like to stretch. Then, right-click on the text layer in the Layers panel and select Rasterize Type.
Next, grab the move tool and click on one of the nodes that appear around your letter. A new options toolbar should appear at the top of your canvas. Click on the icon that looks like a curved grid sitting on top of a curved line. You should see more nodes and a grid appear on your letter.
Use these nodes to warp and stretch the letter to your liking by pulling them out in different directions. Once you are happy with how it looks, hit enter and repeat these steps for any other letters you’d like to transform.
Stretching Letters By Converting Them To Shapes
Another way to stretch your text is to convert the letters into shapes. As a shape, you will have more options to morph and transform the letters in the way that you would like.
To do this, right-click on your text layer in the Layers panel. This should bring up a menu of options to choose from. Select “Convert to shape” from the menu.
Next, grab the Direct Selection Tool from your toolbar and select the area of the letter that you would like to stretch. This is done by left-clicking near the area you would like to select and dragging to create a selection area. You will see anchor points appear around the entire letter, however, some will be clear and others will be colored in. These colored anchor points are your selection area.
To make the letter stretch, hold down the shift key and click on one of the colored anchor points. Next, drag your mouse in the direction you want the letter to stretch. That part of the letter will start to extend. This is a great way to create a stretch on individual letters in a word.
Using Photoshop’s Warp Text
If you’re looking for a quick and simple way to stretch your text, you’ll want to try out the warp text settings. This is probably one of the most well-known methods of manipulating text. While it doesn’t give you as much freedom to alter the letters as the other two methods, it’s still a great tool for simple edits.
The warp text settings are found in the options toolbar when the Text tool is selected. First, select the Text tool and select your font. Then type out the letters you’d wish to warp.
Next, select the icon of a T with a curved line under it from the options toolbar. This will bring up the warp text settings. From here, you can apply different settings that stretch the text vertically or horizontally, depending on your chosen style. Some of these styles include:
- Arc
- Bulge
- Rise
- Wave
- Inflate
You can also adjust how much percentage of warping you would like to see by sliding the bars in the dialogue box. Just remember to select OK when you’re finished.
Final Thoughts
Dealing with fonts and text can oftentimes be tricky, especially if you are working with a logo or design that has many unique and interesting shapes. While manipulating text isn’t also cut and dry, there is always a way to get the results you want when it comes to working with Photoshop.
Hopefully, this quick guide gave you a few ideas on how to stretch font in Photoshop. Remember that some methods work better with individual letters, while others can work with whole words or even sentences.
