Learn/Drafting/Dimensions, Text & Annotation
Text on Arcs & Circles
Updated v2.3.7At a glance
- Sketch Text tool → Layout: Straight, Arc, or Circle
- Circle layouts: top arc, continuous wrap, or a top+bottom badge with the bottom auto-flipped to read upright
- Pick an existing arc or circle to snap radius and center to it
- Each character rotates onto the curve — glyph outlines are never bent or stretched
- Right-click placed text → Edit Text… to change the wording, font, radius, or layout later — it regenerates in place
- Perfect for curved part labels, ring engravings, seals, and logo work
Curved text is built right into the Sketch Text tool. Pick a Layout at the top of its panel and your text follows an arc or wraps a circle — each character is rigidly rotated and repositioned onto the curve, so the glyph outlines themselves are never bent or stretched. The geometry you cut is exactly what the font drew.
Choosing a layout
- Straight — a normal horizontal baseline; click to place it (or type an origin).
- Arc — the string curves along an arc, centered on the start angle. Set Radius, Center X/Y, and Start angle (90° puts the middle of the string at the top), and the blue preview updates live.
- Circle — a full-circle layout with three styles (below).
Circle styles
- Top arc — the string arcs across the top of the circle.
- Continuous — the text wraps continuously around from the start angle.
- Badge — a classic seal: a Top text line reads across the top and a separate Bottom text line reads across the bottom, automatically flipped so it stays upright and reads left-to-right. Ideal for shop logos, plaques, and maker's marks.
Snap to geometry you already drew
Click Pick arc/circle and select any arc or circle in the sketch — its radius and center copy straight in. This is the move for wrapping a label around a bolt circle, hole edge, or ring you've already drawn, with no coordinates to type.
Flip which way it faces
The Flip baseline toggle turns the letters to face inward or outward on the curve, so text on the inside of a ring reads correctly too. On a badge, the bottom line is flipped for you.
Edit it later
Curved text isn't "baked in." Right-click any placed text and choose Edit Text… to re-open it and change the wording, font, height, radius, start angle, or layout — it regenerates in place. Everything it needs to be re-edited is stored with the project, so it survives save, reload, and undo.
How characters land
Each character's advance width is unrolled along the circumference, so letter spacing stays exactly as the font intended — tight radii fan the letters naturally instead of squashing them. Curved text still commits in whichever output mode you're using — splines, arc-fitted polylines, or exploded lines and arcs — ready to extrude or cut.