Text to path and alignment

The current method (In X3 at least) of aligning text along a path is dragging the red control dot at the left hand corner - the mid pont and end points of the path have a big red line showing where they are and the text 'snaps' to it.

A couple of things I would like to see changed:

  • Have the "red dot" be the alignment of the text - ie centered/right/left.
    • This would mean that the offset value on the interactive toolbar would be from the midpoint, end or start (respectivly) of the path. It would still drag as normal.
    • If you changed the path, then the position of the text would update to match.
    • Be able to click on the paragraph alignment tools to quickly align with the mid/end/start of the path.
  • Option to toggle between having the offset distance a percentage (ie relative to the line's length) or a value
  • Option to dynamically change the kerning (is that the correct term?; the spacing between letters) to fit the text to the full path - even if the path is changed, the kerning would update to match.
  • "Tick Snapping" should just be a value field rather than a drop down; 0 = off
  • If you drag the sizing handles, change the relative position on the path to reflect it (If you currently stretch the "left" handle it will stretch the text, but the left hand edge will remain at the distance down the path the offset is) Alternativly use the new 'aligned' red dot as the base point for stretching.
  • Instead of cramming charicters up when it comes to the end of a path, I would like to see it maintain the kerning and have each charicter 'drop' to the other side of the line, coming back on it's self (think on the path as a rounded contour to the line, it would travel along it and round the end and continue.)
  • Option to "make path invisible" (ie set the fill and outline to nothing) but still be able to 'see' it as a guideline style line.
  • "Mirror text" - why would you ever mirror one way and not the other? I much perfer the simple toggle of "Place text on other side"