How to stretch text?

Place the text in a text box, using a fairly large point size. Take a screen shot of the text, placing it on the clipboard. Paste the resulting graphic into the document as a floating object.

Select the object, and open the Metrics Inspector (ruler icon in Inspector). Uncheck the 'constrain proportions' checkbox. Then stretch or compress the graphic vertically or horizontally as desired.

Smaller version is original text, larger version is the stretched image. Note pixelization on curves and diagonals of stretched/larger text (click image for larger view).

Regards,

Barry

Do as Barry suggests, but copy the text box and switch to Preview.app go command n (new) and it is now a vector pdf and can be copied back to pages as a stretchable graphic.

Peter

btw This is an ugly effect and best avoided.

There should be no pixelation, it is a vector image and I also can't imagine what you are doing to have background color "pushed away" other than you do not have a vector and are using alpha masking.

The only reason you see pixelation in my example here is because it is a screensnap of the pdf.

Peter

Just click away from the Textbox before you paste, and the text is sharp, because it is vector, not a bitmap.

The color background above is simply a Shape positioned under the .pdf of the text and can be whatever color you wish, as can the text.

Peter

@ Peter:

Thanks for that detail. I had forgotten that route.

----

4thspace wrote:

"When I copy from preview..."

Are you copying the image, or the text?

Instead of copying from Preview, Save the image as a PDR, then Insert that file into Pages, and if necessary, change it to a Floating object. Here are two screen shots of the result, one taken from my Pages default of 125%, the other with the view scale at 400%

400%

The colour gradient behind the text is placed behind the inserted object, and shows through the transparent part of the image.

Here's a screen shot of the original text in its text box, with the colour gradient object behind it.

Screen shot again, this time just before pressing command-C to copy the selected text box.

Screen shot of Preview window after copyinf the text box, opening Preview and pressing command-N (New from Clipboard).

That image was then saved, Inserted into the pages document, moved into place in front of the gradient (after the text box was moved away), and stertched laterally to the length of the gradient image.

I've left the PDF image selected to show it is a single object, and is not a text box (compare with the selection above).

(This appears smaller due to the automatic scaling in the ASC software.)

I think one key step you are missing in Peter's instructions is to select and copy the text box, then in Preview, to use File > New from Clipboard to create a new document (i.e. NOT to create a new document in Preview, then paste the copied text box into that document).

Regards,

Barry

How are you determining there is "Pixelation"? As I keep saying it is vector and has no resolution to pixelate.

Peter

I probably am beating a dead horse but here is the dot from a 10 pt Baskerville letter "i" (next to itself) which I have enlarged via Preview more than a hundred times to fill an A4 Sheet.

I don't know what it is you think you are seeing but it is not pixelating. Not anything beyond what the pixels on the screen are showing anyway. They can never be vector.

Peter