Curve and auto-fit width

Bend a single line of text along an arc, and shrink it automatically when it gets too long.

Two settings available on single-line text layers only. They handle curved surfaces and text that becomes longer than the available space.

Applies to: Text and Number only. Textarea has Width and Height instead. See Position, size, and rotation.

Curve

Bends the line of text along an arc.

Range	Default	Behavior
-100 to 100	0	0 is a straight line. Positive values curve one way, negative the other

When to use it

Use it for text on a round surface, such as a mug, a plate rim, a ring band, a bangle, a badge, or a bottle label. On these products, straight text does not match the shape of the product.

Setting the value

Try	For
A small value, 10 to 30	A gentle bend, matching a large-diameter surface such as a plate rim
A larger value	A tighter curve, for a ring band or a small bangle
A negative value	The curve bending the other way — text below the centre of a circle rather than above it

Set the value against your own product photo. The correct value depends on the curvature in your image, so there is no standard value.

Curve is what makes text on a mug or a ring look printed rather than pasted on.

Auto-fit max width

Reduces the font size automatically when the text becomes wider than the limit you set.

Setting	Default	What it does
Auto-fit max width	Off	Turns the behavior on, and reveals the setting below
Max width	50%	The widest the text may become, as a share of the image

When to use it

Without it, a text layer grows as the customer types. A short name fits the engraving area, but a long one extends past the edge of the product.

With it enabled, long entries are reduced in size instead, so the text stays inside the area you defined.

1

Turn on Auto-fit max width

On the text layer's Personalizer tab.

2

Set Max width to the real printable width

The value is a percentage of the image. If the engraving area covers about a third of the photo's width, start with 33.

3

Test with your longest allowed entry

Enter the maximum your Max character limit allows. The text should be reduced in size and stay inside the area.

4

Check it is still legible at that size

If a maximum-length entry is too small to read, reduce the Max character limit.

Enable this setting for any engraving or embroidery field. You cannot predict the length of the text a customer will enter.

Using both together

The two settings interact. With Curve enabled, Max width is used as the diameter of the curve.

On a curved product, use both settings together. Max width sets the size of the arc, and Curve sets how far the text bends around it.

Product	Setup
A mug with text around the side	Curve set to match the mug's curvature, auto-fit on with a max width matching the printable band
A ring band	A stronger curve, a small max width, and a tight Max character limit
A flat engraved plate	Curve at 0, auto-fit on
A jersey number	Curve at 0, auto-fit off — one or two characters cannot overflow

Pair them with a character limit

These settings make long entries fit the space, but they do not limit the length. A forty-character entry on a twelve-character plate is reduced to a size you cannot produce.

Set a Max character limit that matches what you can produce, and enable the Character counter so the customer can see the limit.

Notes

• Both settings are available for Text and Number only.

• Curve has no effect on Textarea, because multi-line text cannot follow a single arc.

• Auto-fit only reduces the font size. It does not enlarge short text to fill the available space.

• Neither setting changes the actual product or production result. They only adjust the preview to better match the final result.