Text

The Text tool creates editable text objects. Text stays editable while you change its font, spacing, box size, or advanced shape. Convert it to a path only when you need to edit the letter outlines as vector nodes.

Activate

Hotkey: Ctrl+T
Toolbar: Text in the Creation Toolbar

Create text

Point text

Point text grows horizontally as you type.

Select Text.
In Properties > Text Type, choose Point.
Click the canvas and type.
Click outside the editor or press Esc to commit.

Box text

Box text wraps within a fixed width and is useful for signs, labels, and paragraphs.

Select Text.
In Properties > Text Type, choose Box.
Drag on the canvas to set the box width, then type.
Change Box Width later in Properties. Enable Squeeze to Fit to compress the text horizontally instead of wrapping it.

If you commit a new text object without typing anything, Beam Bench removes the empty object.

Edit existing text

Select a text object to open its controls in Properties. Click Edit on canvas, or double-click the text, to place the caret and edit in context. Arrow keys, Home, End, and text selection work normally. Click outside or press Esc to commit.

Locked text cannot be edited until it is unlocked.

The Properties panel for a selected text object, showing typography, spacing, text type, Wave shape controls, and laser output. Text controls live in the Properties panel. The available advanced controls change with the selected shape.

Properties

Typography

Option	What it does
Font	Chooses a system or bundled font.
Size	Sets the text height in the current display unit.
Style	Selects Regular, Bold, Italic, or Bold Italic.
Uppercase	Displays the content in uppercase without replacing what you typed.

Alignment and spacing

Option	What it does
Align / V Align	Positions straight text relative to its insertion point or box. These controls are hidden for shaped text.
Tracking	Adds or removes space between characters.
Line Spacing	Changes the distance between lines. It is unavailable for Bend, Path, Arch, and Circle layouts.
RTL	Lays characters out right-to-left for right-to-left writing systems. This is independent of the advanced shape's Direction setting.

Advanced text shapes

Expand Advanced Text Shape and choose a value from Shape. Changes preview immediately on the canvas.

Shape	Result	Additional controls
Straight	Normal editable text with no shaped baseline or envelope.	Alignment controls
Bend	Places text on a circular arc.	Bend Radius, Baseline Offset, Direction, Distort
Path	Places text along a vector guide selected from the canvas.	Select/Pick/Clear Path, Baseline Offset, Distort
Arch	Curves the outer text envelope into an arch.	Direction, Strength, Distort
Rise	Slopes the text upward or downward across its width.	Direction, Strength
Wave	Expands and contracts the text through a wave-shaped envelope.	Direction, Strength
Flag	Moves the text baseline in a flag-like wave.	Direction, Strength
Angle	Creates an angled, tapered envelope.	Direction, Strength
Circle	Places text around part of a circle.	Arc Span, Circle Position, Circle Side, Distort

Direction and strength

For Bend, Arch, Rise, Wave, Flag, and Angle:

Normal applies the shape in its default direction.
Reverse applies the same shape in the opposite direction. It does not reverse the character order; use RTL when the writing direction itself should be right-to-left.
Strength controls how strongly Arch, Rise, Wave, Flag, and Angle deform the text.

Bend and baseline offset

Bend Radius controls the size of the arc. A larger radius produces a gentler bend.
Baseline Offset moves Bend or Path text perpendicular to its baseline without changing the guide.
Distort reshapes the letter outlines to follow the curve. Turn it off to keep each letter more rigid while its position and angle follow the curve.

Circle placement

Circle text has two independent placement choices:

Circle Position: Top / Bottom selects the upper or lower part of the circle.
Circle Side: Outside / Inside places the letters outside the circle or toward its center.
Arc Span sets how much of the circle the text occupies, from 45° to 315°.

Circle text on the canvas with Bottom and Inside selected in Properties. Bottom and Inside are independent settings: this example puts the lettering on the lower part of the circle and faces it toward the center.

The Circle controls showing Arc Span, Circle Position, Circle Side, and Distort. Circle exposes placement controls instead of Direction and Strength.

Text on a path

Create or select a text object.
Choose Path under Advanced Text Shape.
Click Select Path, then click a vector or shape on the canvas. Press Esc to cancel the picker.
Use Pick to choose a different guide, Clear to unlink it, and Baseline Offset to move the text away from the guide.

The guide remains a normal project object and can still output. Put a construction guide on a tool layer or disable its layer's Output before running the job.

Weld and Convert to Path

These commands solve different problems:

Weld merges overlapping letter outlines for laser output while keeping the object editable as text. Use it for script fonts or tightly overlapping letters that should become one continuous cut shape.
Convert to Path permanently freezes the current lettering and shape into editable vector geometry. After conversion you can use the Node tool, Boolean operations, and other vector tools, but you can no longer edit the wording, font, or text-shape settings.

Save a copy of the editable text before converting if you may need to change the wording later.

Properties panel: object transforms and shared properties
Node tool: edit converted letter outlines
Layer settings: control output, power, speed, and passes

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