Beam Bench Docs

Text

Create and edit text objects. Click to place, then type. Click existing text to edit.

The Text tool creates new text objects on click and lets you edit existing ones in place.

Activate

  • Hotkey: Ctrl+T
  • Toolbar: Creation Toolbar

How to use

Create text

  1. Click on empty canvas where you want the text to start.
  2. An inline text editor appears at the click position.
  3. Type.
  4. Click outside the editor (or press Esc) to commit.

Newly created text uses the current text defaults stored in app state, font, size, alignment, bold/italic, etc. Set the defaults via the Properties Toolbar while the Text tool is active.

Edit existing text

  1. Click an existing text object on the canvas.
  2. The inline editor opens with the caret at the position you clicked.
  3. Type to insert. Use arrow keys, Home/End to navigate. Selections work as expected.
  4. Click outside (or Esc) to commit.

Locked text objects are skipped, clicking through a locked text does not enter edit mode.

Modifiers and interactions

  • Esc: exit edit mode and commit.
  • Click elsewhere: commit and switch.
  • If you exit without typing anything in a newly created text, the text is deleted.

Options

While the Text tool is active, the Properties Toolbar shows text options:

OptionWhat it does
FontFont family (system fonts + any bundled).
HeightFont size in the current Display Unit.
HSpaceHorizontal letter spacing in the current Display Unit.
Align XLeft / Center / Right.
Layout ModeNormal / Bend / Path.
BoldBold style.
ItalicItalic style.
Upper CaseForce uppercase rendering.
WeldedMerge outlines of overlapping letterforms (useful for cut text).
DistortDistort along the bend path.
VSpaceVertical line spacing.
Align YTop / Middle / Bottom.
OffsetDistance from the path in the current Display Unit (Path layout mode).
RadiusRadius in the current Display Unit for Bend layout mode.
Guide PathPick a path object as the text's guide path (Path layout mode).

Changing any of these on an existing selection updates the text immediately. Changing them with no selection sets the defaults for future text.

Path-bound text

To bend text along an arbitrary curve:

  1. Have the curve (a path object) on the canvas.
  2. Create or select text.
  3. Set Layout Mode to Path. For selected text without a guide, this immediately starts guide-pick mode.
  4. Click the vector or shape object to use as the guide. Press Esc to cancel. Use Pick later if you need to replace an existing guide.

The text follows the path. Adjust Offset to move it perpendicular to the path direction.

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

What gets created

A Text object on the active layer. Bounds are sized to fit the typed content.

On this page

ActivateHow to useCreate textEdit existing textModifiers and interactionsOptionsPath-bound textWhat gets createdRelated