How to convert text to outlines in Illustrator

If you are a graphic designer working extensively with texts, this article is a must-read. You understand that font selection is very important to set the mood of your illustration. So, you might not want to compromise with the choice of font. However, the vendor you approached for printing might not have that font available. If you are considering re-working your entire illustration, pause right there. There’s a plan to help you out. You have something called a convert text to outlines feature in Adobe Illustrator.

What is the text to outline?

You might be aware that Illustrator is vector graphic software. So anything that you convert into shapes will conserve all the features of vector graphic art. We can also do it to the texts on our artboard. By using the text to outline we can convert the texts on our artboard to a bunch of shapes. The edges of the text are converted to several anchor points similar to a shape drawn by a pen tool. They are scalable as well.

The Text to outline feature is very useful at times:

You find out that the machine to be used to print the document does not have the font installed.
Embedding the font is not feasible.
The font has been copyright protected by the author.

How to convert text to outline in Adobe illustrator

Let us understand how to convert text to outline in Illustrator.

Type any text you want.
Then, select font, size, color, and alignment to suit your choice
Select the text.
Next, go to the Type menu in the menu bar
Select Create Outlines
Right-click on the text
Select Ungroup option
Finally, at this point, all individual letters of the text are shapes that can be edited as you want.

Alternatively, select the text and use the keyboard shortcut Shift+Control+O on Windows or Shift+Cmd+O on Mac. You can also access the text to outline directly with the selection tool(Keyboard Shortcut v). Right-click on the selected text. Then click on the Create Outlines option. Always remember to ungroup the text group if you want to edit individual letters.

An alternative approach to convert text to outlines

Sometimes the text may contain thick strokes. Since text to outline only traces the edges of the letters to form a shape, thick strokes may cause trouble. However, we also have a method to tackle this problem. Use the following easy steps:

1: Highlight the text.

2: Go to the Object menu in the menu bar

3: Select the Expand command

4: In the Expand option Panel which pops up next, make sure that Object and Fill checkboxes are selected. hit ok.

5: While the text is selected, go to the Expand option once again.

6: This time, select the Stroke and the Fill checkboxes and hit ok

7: Go to Windows -> Pathfinder tool

When you hover over the letters, you might observe several unwanted lines. This is because the letters have been converted to a collection of shapes.

8: Select all the profiles inside each letter using the Pathfinder tool

9: Expand the Pathfinder tool properties panel on the right of the artwork

10: Find and select the merger option and it is done

Working with a text as shapes

Once you have converted the text to outline in Illustrator, several more options open up. You can combine the text with various shapes. If you refer to the article on the shape builder tool, you will learn how to create intricate designs with simple shapes. The shape builder tool will work with text as an outline as well. You can use the merge and extract function of the tool and be creative with the text.

Points to remember

You need to understand that texts have predefined settings to adjust with size and spacing. Therefore, the outlined text will lose the editable feature as it is basically a bunch of shapes. While individual letters may be stylized, the outlined letters do not respond to retyping. Convert text to an outline after you are satisfied with the text properties. It is a good practice to keep a copy of the document with non-outlined text. When working in a shared space, try to include a small note of the font used in the document. In other words, allows another user to re-create the artwork easily. Outlined texts are saved as shapes and will not be editable as live text.

In conclusion

You need to understand that texts have predefined settings to adjust with size and spacing. Therefore, the outlined text will lose the editable feature as it is basically a bunch of shapes. While individual letters may be stylized, the outlined letters do not respond to retyping. Convert text to outlines in Illustrator after you are satisfied with the text properties. It is a good practice to keep a copy of the document with non-outlined text. When working in a shared space, try to include a small note of the font used in the document. In other words, allows another user to re-create the artwork easily. Outlined texts are saved as shapes and will not be editable as live text.

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