While editing your documents or creating text designs on a project in Google Docs, you might have tried curving texts at some point and you’re not alone.
Curved texts add a dynamic and eye-catching element to your documents hence giving them a more professional and artistic look, especially when utilized properly.
Sadly, there is currently no built-in feature to curve text on Google Docs as you would have on other word processing platforms like Microsoft Word or LibreOffice Writer.
But this doesn’t mean that getting curved text on your document in Google Docs is entirely impossible.
If you’re looking to add curved text to your document on Google Docs, you’re on the right page. In this article, we will walk you through the various methods of curving texts in Google Docs.
How To Curve Texts In Google Docs (3 Methods)
Unlike on other text editing platforms like Word where you can easily curve texts with word art, there is no built-in method to curve texts on Google Docs.
However, there are a number of workarounds for getting curved text on your document in Google Docs. One workaround is to create the curved text on an external design platform like Canva, Mokofun, and others then import it into your document in Google Docs.
Another method to get curved text on Google Docs is by inserting text boxes on the drawing tool and rotating them until you get your desired curved text.
Below, we explain each method to get a text curved in Google Docs in detail. Depending on your preferences, you can use any of the aforementioned methods to get curved texts on your document in Google Docs.
1) Using Canva
As mentioned earlier, one of the methods to get curved texts on your document in Docs is by creating the curved texts on any of the free external design tools and then importing them into Google Docs.
One tool that you can use to create curved text online is Canva. The design platform allows users to create various designs spanning from text designs, shapes, logos, flyers, and more for free.
To get a curved text on your document in Google Docs using Canva, you will first have to create the curved text on Canva, download the image, remove the background then import it into your document using the Google Docs Image Insert feature.
Here is how to create a curved text on Canva and import it into Google Docs.
Step 1: Visit Canva.com and create a free account.
First, visit the Canva website (https://canva.com) and create a free account using your email address and a password then verify your account by clicking the link on the verification mail sent to your email address.
If you already have a Canva account, then simply log into your account to access the Canva dashboard.
Step 2: Create a design of your desired size.
On the Canva dashboard, click “Create a design” then select “Custom size” at the bottom corner of the dialog as shown in the screenshot below.
Next, enter your desired dimensions for the curved text (image) in the “Width” and “Height” sections.
Depending on the size of the curved text you want to create, you should set the height and width accordingly.
For this article, we will be using a dimension of 500 x 200px – which is a Width of 500px and a Height of 200px.
After entering your desired dimensions, click “Create new design” to create a new design.
Step 3: Create the curved text.
Now, go to the left sidebar and select “Text” then choose “Add a heading”.
Next, edit the text in the textbox to your text of choice. Center the text box vertically and horizontally using the guideline, then go to the Canva toolbar and select “Effects”.
Now you should see a bunch of effects that can be applied to the text on the right side of the Canva window.
Scroll down to the “Shape” section and select “Curve” then adjust the curve value using the value bar until you get to your desired curve, then center the textbox both vertically and horizontally just like you did earlier.
As you can see in the screenshot above, we used a curve value of 30 for the curved text and we recommend using that for normal curved texts. If you want something else, adjust the curve value until you get your desired curve.
Also, you can change the text color of the text in the textbox by clicking on the “Text color” icon on the Canva toolbar and then selecting any color of your choice on the color picker.
Step 4: Export the curved text.
After creating the curved text on Canva, you will need to export and download the text as an image from the platform then upload it to Google Docs.
To do this, click the “Share” button on the top right corner of the Canva window then select “Download”.
Ensure “PNG” is the selected file type then click “Download”.
Step 5: Remove the background color
After downloading the image from Canva, you will need to remove the background color from the image.
If you’re a paying Canva user, you can easily remove the background color of your design before downloading, but since we’re using the free version of Canva for this tutorial, you will most likely not be able to use this feature on Canva.
To remove the background of the curve text design we downloaded from Canva, we will be using an online background removal tool known as Remove.bg.
Removing the background color of a design using this tool is quite easy.
To remove the background color of the image you downloaded from Canva, go to the Remove.bg website and click “Upload Image” then select the image from your device file manager.
After uploading the image, it should automatically remove the white background. Once the process is completed, click “Download” to download the image no background color.
Step 6: Upload the image to Google Docs.
Finally, you will need to upload the image with transparent background to your document in Google Docs. To do this, select Insert > Image > Upload from computer on the Google Docs menu bar then select the image from your file manager.
Now, you should see the curved text on your document but to make it easier to move around on the page, you will have to change the text wrapping setting for the image.
To change the text wrapping, simply select the image then click on the “In front of text” icon to change the text wrapping from the default “In line” to “In front of text” as shown in the screenshot below.
And that’s how you can add curved texts in Google Docs using Canva.
2) Using The Google Docs Drawing Tool
Another way to curve texts on Google Docs is by using the built-in drawing tool on the platform.
Although this method is a little bit cumbersome and can get quite frustrating for some, it is still a good workaround to get curved texts on Google Docs if you don’t want to use an external design platform.
Basically, creating curved texts using the Google Docs drawing tool involves inserting a curved shape then adding textboxes and rotating these textboxes to match the curves on the shape you inserted. If you’re familiar with the Docs drawing tool, it is quite easy to do this.
Here is a detailed step-by-step guide showing how you can create curved texts on Google Docs by using the drawing tool.
First, go to the Google Docs menu bar then select Insert > Drawing > New to access the Docs drawing tool.
Step 2: Insert a curved shape as a reference.
Next, you will need to insert a curved shape which will be used as a reference for the curved text design.
To do this, click on the “Shape” icon and select a curved shape then draw the shape on the canvas. We recommend using the “Oval” shape (or Circle).
Step 3: Insert multiple text boxes and rotate to the correct angles to fit the curve.
Next, insert a text box and type in the first letter or first 2 letters of the text you want to curve then rotate the text box by clicking and dragging the little circle on top of the text box. Ensure you follow the curve of the shape used for reference.
Repeat this step for each letter or syllable of the text you want to curve all while following the curve on the reference shape i.e. the circle in this case.
When you’re done, you should have something like what we have below.
Step 4: Delete the reference curved shape.
After you’re done with creating the curved text, you will need to delete the shape that was used as a reference since we don’t want it to appear when the curved text is inserted.
To delete the shape right-click on the circle, then select “Delete”.
Step 5: Save and insert the curved text in your document.
Finally, click “Save and close” to save the design, close the Docs drawing tool and insert the curved text in your document.
After inserting, click on the image then select the “In front of text” icon to change the text wrapping setting of the image from the default “In line” to “In front of text”.
And that’s how you can create curved text on Google Docs using the Docs drawing tool. It’s that easy.
Wrapping Up
In conclusion, utilizing curved texts is a great way to make unique and really cool designs on your documents in Google Docs and just about any other word processing platform.
If you’re a Google Docs user, then there is no direct method to create curved texts on the platform but like with every other limitation of Google Docs, there is always a workaround.
In this article, we shared 2 working methods to get curved texts on your document in Google Docs. The first method is by utilizing external design platforms like Canva to create the curved text and then downloading and importing it into Google Docs.
The second method discussed involves utilizing the Google Docs drawing tool to create curved texts using multiple rotating textboxes and a curved shape as a reference shape.
