Graphicxtras

Create Spiral Text / Type In Photoshop

No tool

You want create type in a spiral in Photoshop shape, sadly, there is no inbuilt tool for this. You have to make the vector path either using some of the path tools or copying the design from Illustrator.

Curvature tool

Go to the tools panel and select the curvature pen tool which should be below the pen tool but if not, you should find it in the extra tools section. Once you have that, select it and then go to the top left of the options bar and set to path and then go to the gear settings for the tool and set the width to 3px (maximum) and set the color (this is not for the end result). Click the tool with the tool and drag and construct manually the points for the curve. The curvature tool makes curved paths so it is fairly easy to add a point and then drag and add another point and so in a design that matches your end requirement (please check our video channel via the link above to see some possible designs for that). You can build as many arms and points as you wish for your path. You can end by pressing the esc to stop the tool trying to close the path. You can then use the curvature tool to manipulate the existing points or add some more points.

Paths panel

Go to the window menu and paths and make certain the path is selected.

Characters and adding to path

Go to the type tool in the tools panel and then hover over the path and you will see the cursor change so you can add characters to the current path. You can then click anywhere on the path to add your letters. You will by default get lorem ipsum (if setting filler in preferences is ON) but you can edit the characters and you can also use the path selection tool in the tools panel to move the insertion point to move the characters back and forth or change the alignment. It does have a tendency to move back and forth but you should find as long as you use alignment left that is quite easy after a few seconds of practice to move the insertion point of the your characters as well as flip the alignment of the characters onto the alternate side of the path.

Characters and changing the font etc

You can use the standard tools to modify the font size, spacing etc by selecting the characters and changing the size, font, vertical sizing etc as well as color. You can repeat this with all the characters or just keep as is.

Convert / expand

If you wish, you can also go to the type menu and go to the convert command to convert them to shapes etc and you can then manipulate the individual points of your characters. You can also convert the design into a smart object via the layer menu and convert to smart object and then use that design with filters and adjustments etc

Original path

If you want, you can now delete the original path unless you want to use it again by going to the paths panel and delete button. The characters are a separate set of paths to the original design.

Illustrator

As the tool is available in Illustrator (you can find it beneath the line segment tool and you can click the art board to modify the settings), you may prefer to just make the design on the art board there and copy and paste it as a path (a panel will appear with a number of options). You will now see the path, hover over it to add letters / characters as described above.

Transform

The vector can be used as created but you can always select it and then go to the edit menu and apply the scale, rotate, warp etc and it can be modified in all kinds of ways to create unique designs.

Direct Selection

You can select the points in the path using the direct selection. With the letters applied, you can then shift and distort the characters in all kinds of ways.