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IMPORTANT:  Please note that this tutorial is designed for features present in Photoshop CS
and later.  It is doubtful any of the techniques mentioned here will work with earlier versions!

Although Photoshop has had typographical warping features since version 6.0, it wasn't until Photoshop CS that Adobe finally added several greatly anticipated abilities to allow flowing of text along user-definable paths.  This may sound relatively minor, but the creative capabilities it opens up are well worth it, and reduce the need to rely on Adobe Illustrator even further.  Read on to learn how you can use paths to make text follow paths, shapes, and even complex curves with relative ease!

Step 1: Open up a stock image or illustration in Photoshop of any size and/or format.  The best results for this tutorial usually involve large images and/or objects around which text can flow relatively easily.  It is, of course, always possible to get your text to flow around very complex shapes... but this is fraught with problems that will become apparent very soon, and probably not for the faint hearted!

Step 2: Using the Pen Tool, click and drag several times to create a smooth path with as few anchor points as possible.  You should also take as much time as possible to make sure that the control points of each anchor (i.e. the little 'arms' that are present on each anchor) are as small as possible. This may seem overly pedantic, but the text tool will follow the path exactly, and any sudden changes in the path may present themselves in unpleasant ways later! NB.   For the sake of text flow, you do NOT need to close/terminate your paths.  Furthermore, you can use the shapes tool with paths output to create valid paths if that is your preference!

Step 3: When you have finished working on your path, select the Type Tool and hold it over your path object at the point where you would like to start your text.  A new icon should appear to indicate that you're able to add type along the path - .  Just click and type away!   Text on the path can be fully adjusted with the Character Palette (Window > Character).  The 'Baseline Shift' parameter is particularly useful and can be used to adjust the type position above/below the path. Note: The original path is retained separately in the paths palette from the path used to flow the text.  If you need to alter the text path at a later time, just use the Path Selection Tool to manipulate the anchor points of the appropriate path, and the text will automatically adjust - no need to operate multiple path copies!

Step 4: When you have finished editing your type, press CTRL+ENTER (Mac: OPT+RETURN) on your keyboard to accept the type editing, and again to hide the underlying path.   And that's all there is to it!   It should be remembered, of course, that pathed text is rarely complete in itself and often needs further personalisation before it looks professional. Layer effects are particularly good additions, as the example to the left shows.  Have fun!

- Tutorial written by Man1c M0g

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