Before you start, you will need to choose an image to work with. I have used a synoptic chart thistime, as it has ﬂowing contour lines that will look good as a pattern. The image quality of yoursource picture is not important, unless you want to include it in your ﬁnal image.1) Once you have an image, open it in Illustrator. Select the pen tool.

HOW TO FILL A PATH WITH TEXT

IN ADOBE ILLUSTR ATOR CS4

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2) Create a new layer above the source image, and make sure it appears highlighted. With thepen tool selected, click at regular intervals along the contour lines/main shape areas of yourimage. Complete each shape by continuing until you reach the point where you started.

HOW TO FILL A PATH WITH TEXT

IN ADOBE ILLUSTR ATOR CS4

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3) Now it

s time to smooth the paths you have drawn. Click on the smooth tool (it looks like apencil with diagonal stripes) and trace along the outlines you have just drawn. The jagged pointswill turned into curves. You may have to trace the same paths more than once to get good curves.4) Select all paths. At the bottom of the toolbar, click the colour square, then click the small boxwith the diagonal red line. This will remove the default ﬁll, you will now just have the clear pathoutlines, which are ready to ﬁll with text.

HOW TO FILL A PATH WITH TEXT

IN ADOBE ILLUSTR ATOR CS4

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5) Click the eye icon alongside the source image in the layers panel (to hide it). Select the

AreaType Tool

(hidden in the

type icon), then select one of the paths. A cursor will appear inside theshape. Type a short phrase, leaving a single space in between each letter, for best results.6) Copy and paste the phrase repeatedly, leaving a single space between each paste. If you havea large amount of text, this will only take a few clicks. Click within each path on the page andpaste the text until all areas are ﬁlled. Experiment with font sizes and styles later.