Draw a curve in word

This article discusses drawing curves, circles, and ovals. For information about drawing lines, see Draw or delete a line or connector. For information about freeform shapes and editing points in shapes, see Draw or edit a freeform shape.

Draw a curve

1. On the Insert tab, click Shapes.

2. Under Lines, click Curve.

3. Click where you want the curve to start, drag to draw, and then click wherever you want to add a curve.

4. To end a shape, do one of the following:

   • To leave the shape open, double-click at any time.

   • To close the shape, click near its starting point.

Draw an oval or circle

1. On the Insert tab, click Shapes.

2. Under Basic Shapes, click Oval.

3. Click where you want the oval to start, and drag to draw the shape.

4. To draw a circle, press Shift while you drag.

   Notes: 

   • You can change the look of your circle or curve by adding a shape fill or effect or changing the border.

   • If you want to create a more advanced diagram like overlapping circles, an organizational chart, or a flowchart, you can create a SmartArt graphic instead of drawing each shape manually.

   • Circles and ovals are filled automatically. If you don’t want the shape to obscure anything underneath it, such as text or cells, select the shape, and on the Format tab, click Shape Fill, and then click No Fill.

Draw a curve

1. On the Insert tab, in the Illustrations group, click Shapes.
   

2. Under Lines, click Curve .

3. Click where you want the curve to start, drag to draw, and then click wherever you want to add a curve.

4. To end a shape, do one of the following:

   • To leave the shape open, double-click at any time.

   • To close the shape, click near its starting point.

     Note: By default, a closed shape is filled. To make sure that the shape doesn’t obscure the cells underneath, select the shape, and then under Drawing Tools, on the Format tab, in the Shape Styles group, click Shape Fill, and then click No Fill

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Draw an oval or circle

1. On the Insert tab, in the Illustrations group, click Shapes.

   

2. Under Basic Shapes, click Oval .

3. Click where you want the circle to start. To make the shape a circle, press and hold SHIFT while you drag to draw.

   Notes: 

   • You can change the look of your circle or curve by adding a shape fill or shape effect or changing the shape border.

   • If you want to create a more advanced diagram like overlapping circles, an organizational chart, or a flowchart, you can create a SmartArt graphic instead of drawing each shape manually.

   • By default, a circle or oval is filled. To make sure that the shape doesn’t obscure the cells underneath, select the shape, and then under Drawing Tools, on the Format tab, in the Shape Styles group, click Shape Fill, and then click No Fill.

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Additional FAQs

1. Go to the “Insert” tab on the Ribbon.
2. In the “Illustrations” section, click the “Shapes” button.
3. Under the “Line” tab, click on “Curve.”
4. Left-click where you want the curve to start.
5. Move your cursor to draw the line. Left-click to add a curve.
6. Double-click where you want the curve to end.

How do you make text curved for free?

Double click on the text box and type your text. Go to the Shape Format tab, select Text Effects -> Transform. You will see different options for the path and the warped effect. Drag the orange dot to change the degree of the curve.

How do I make a curved shape in Word?

Draw a curve

1. On the Insert tab, click Shapes.
2. Under Lines, click Curve.
3. Click where you want the curve to start, drag to draw, and then click wherever you want to add a curve.
4. To end a shape, do one of the following: To leave the shape open, double-click at any time. To close the shape, click near its starting point.

To create curved or circular WordArt text, you add a Transform text effect.

1. Select the WordArt. When you do that, the Shape Format tab appears.
2. Click Text Effects >Transform and pick the effect you want.

What program can I use to curve text?

PicMonkey is one of the only design platforms out there with a super easy-to-use curved text tool. That means if you want to put your words into circles or arcs and create some serious typography art, you’ve got to check out PicMonkey.

How do I write text in a circle in Word?

To journal within a circle:

1. Open up MS Word.
2. Click on the Oval shape. Click and drag on your page to make the desired size.
3. Double click on the shape.
4. Click OK.
5. Click on the Text Box.
6. Click on the Text Box again.
7. Click OK.
8. Click on the Text Box and drag it over the circle shape so that it is right over it.

How do I make my logo curved in text?

Design a Logo with Curved Text

1. Step 1 – Create a New Document.
2. Step 2 – Draw an Ellipse.
3. Step 3 – Set the Fill and Stroke Styles.
4. Step 4 – Add a Second Stroke.
5. Step 5 – Set a Drop Shadow.
6. Step 6 – Add a Text Object.
7. Step 7 – Create the Text Path.

How do I add text effects in Word?

Add an effect to text

1. Select the text that you want to add an effect to.
2. On the Home tab, in the Font group, click Text Effect.
3. Click the effect that you want. For more choices, point to Outline, Shadow, Reflection, or Glow, and then click the effect that you want to add.

What is a text wrapping?

Text wrap is a feature supported by many word processors that enables you to surround a picture or diagram with text. The text wraps around the graphic. Text wrap in HTML is most fequently used to describe wrapping of text around an image in the HTML code.

What is warp text?

Warping of text mean to change the position or style of letter or text in different shapes.

What does the Warp text feature do?

The Warp Text feature in Photoshop allows you to warp your text in many different styles from an arch, to a flag, to a fisheye effect.

How do you make circles around letters?

You can use one of the alt keys and type the decimal numbers using number pad. For example, alt + 9411 will produce circled capital N like Ⓝ. If you do not have a keyboard with number pad then try the alt + x method. Type the hexadecimal codes and then press alt + x to convert it into a circled letter.

How do I make a transparent circle in Word?

Apply transparency to a shape

1. Select the shape or shapes that you want to make transparent.
2. Right-click, and on the context menu, select Format Shape.
3. In the Format Shape pane, set the Transparency slider to the percentage of transparency that you want.

How do I turn a text into a shape?

To convert text into a shape, right-click on the text layer, and choose “Convert To Shape”. Then select the Direct Selection tool (the white arrow tool) by pressing Shift A and click-and-drag the points in the path to give the characters a new shape.

How do I circle something in a PDF?

Choose Insert Menu > Drawing > Select Rectangle , Circle or Basic Shape.

How do you make a logo curve?

Then, read tips on how to select colors, fonts, layout, and symbols to make sure your logo matches the brand you’re trying to portray. When you’re ready, get started with our AI-powered logo maker. Tip: you can find curved text logos under Suggestion > Curved.

What is text effects in Microsoft Word?

Text Effects and Typography in Microsoft word means applying special formats to the content such as an Outline, Shadow, Reflection or Glow is known as the Text Effects. Similarly, changing the Styles, Ligatures, and Stylistics Sets of the numbers is called Typography settings.

Which feature helps us create special text effects?

Word Art feature helps us to create special text effects.

Which of the following is a text effect?

Adding additional features for text include background color, making text as blur, changing font color, outlining the text, changing font size, changing font style, and shadowing the text. Text effects can be added in word document as follows:Select the way the text needs to be changed.

Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Drawing a Curve.

If you want to insert a curved line in your Word document, you can do so by following these steps:

1. Display the Insert tab of the ribbon.
2. Click the Shapes tool in the Illustrations group. Word displays a palette of different shape categories.
3. In the Lines group, click on the Curve option. (Make sure you choose Curve, near the right side of the available lines. Don’t click the Curved Connector option.) Word changes the mouse pointer to a crosshair indicator.
4. Click at the point in your document where you want the curve to begin.
5. Click at each point where you want the line to curve.
6. When you reach the place where you want the curve to end, double-click.

To get exactly the curve you want may take a bit of practice on your part. Once a curve is placed in your document, it is treated the same as any other graphic image.

Author Bio

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Even if you’ve been a Microsoft Word user for a long time, there are certain formatting options or objects that you need, but might not know where to find. For example, you might need to know how to curve text in Word if you’re designing a document that would benefit from having that effect.

A traditional Microsoft Word document, such as one that you might create for school or your job, is rarely more than plain text and maybe a picture or graph. But there are a lot of other elements that can be included in a Word document, including curved words.

You can curve text in Microsoft Word selecting the text, clicking the Insert tab, clicking the WordArt button and choosing an option from the drop down menu. You can then select the Format tab > Text Effects > Transform > then choose a curved path.

Whether you’re designing a flyer or a newsletter, or anything else that needs to be visually appealing, there are many cases where you might find yourself needing to curve a Word in your document. Our guide below will show you how to use the tools in Microsoft Word to achieve your curved text.

How to Arch Microsoft Word Text

The steps in this article were performed in Microsoft Word for Office 365, but will also work in most other versions of Word.

This first part of this section provides a brief overview of how to curve text.

If you would like to see the full tutorial with pictures, simply keep scrolling, or click this link to jump to that section. We also discuss how to curve text without WordArt further down in this article.

1. Open the Word document.
2. Choose where to add the curved text, then type it.
3. Select the text.
4. Click the Insert tab.
5. Choose the WordArt button, then select a style.
6. Click the Drawing Tools – Format tab.
7. Select Text Effects, then Transform, then a curved text style.
8. Adjust the WordArt text box as needed.

Our guide continues below with additional information on how to curve text in Word, including pictures of these steps.

Would you like to include the number of pages next to your page numbers? Our page 1 of 2 in Word tutorial can show you how to set that up.

Full Tutorial – How to Curve Text in Microsoft Word

As mentioned above, this section provides additional information on curving text in Microsoft Word, including pictures.

Note that this method uses WordArt. However, you can also curve text without WordArt. That method is discussed in the section below this one.

Step 1: Open your document in Word.

Step 2: Click at the point where you want to place the curved text, then type it.

Step 3: Use your mouse to select the text that you wish to curve.

Step 4: Select the Insert tab at the top of the window.

Step 5: Click the Word Art button, then choose the desired style for your curved text.

Step 6: Select the Drawing Tools Format tab at the top of the window.

Step 7: Choose the Text Effects option, select Transform, then click the desired curve type under Follow Path.

Step 8: Adjust the layout options for your curved text by clicking the white anchors to change the size of the text box, clicking and dragging the orange anchor to adjust the curvature, or clicking on the arrow to rotate the text.

The next section provides an alternate method for curving text.

If you’re adding math equations or other similar text to your document, then this how to do fraction on Word guide can show you a useful tool in the application.

How to Curve Text in Microsoft Word Without WordArt

Sometimes you will want to avoid using certain types of objects in Microsoft Word, including WordArt. Therefore you might want to try this method of curving text instead.

Step 1: Click the Insert tab.

Step 2: Click the Text Box button and choose your text box type.

Step 3: Enter the text into the text box.

Step 4: Right-click the text box and choose Format Shape.

Note that you need to right-click on the text box border, not inside the text box.

Step 5: Select No Fill and No Line from the column at the right side of the window.

Step 6: Click the Text Effects button, select Transform, then click one of the curved text options under Follow Path.

Depending on the version of Word that you are using you may or may not see a preview of the curved text after you select the shape transformation. Otherwise, you will need to click outside of the text box.

You can edit the text in the text box and adjust its formatting until it looks the way that you want it to look. You can also adjust the size of the text box or rotate it using the controls that surround the text box when it’s selected.

Our tutorial continues below with additional discussion about ways of adding curves to text in Word.

If you see a lot of weird symbols in your document that you can’t remove, then read this how to remove paragraph symbols in Word 2013 article to stop showing all of those different marks.

Frequently Asked Questions About How to Bend Words in Word

More Information on Curving Text to a Custom Shape in Word

There are a lot of WordArt styles that you can pick from when you are using the Word Art option to create the curved text effect. Plus, you can always go back and choose a different WordArt option or WordArt style after you use the transform option if you don’t like the result.

The placeholder text in a text box can be selected and deleted.

One of the benefits of using a text box to create curved text is that you can move a text box almost anywhere in the Word window, which gives you far more placement options than you have when you use WordArt text.

If you format your curved text and find that you made a mistake, you can undo curved text by pressing the Ctrl + Z keyboard shortcut.

Do you need your curved text to be a specific size? Find out how to show the ruler in Microsoft Word so that you can tell how large part of your document will be when you print it.