Convert text to editable shape?

[Dilaco]

Is there a way to convert text to an editable shape?

I have a font that I am thinking of using for a project; the font is near to what I want but still requires modification on some letters. I've tried the 'convert to editable shape' function but it has no effect. (I'm not referring to stretching or squashing or distorting the text; I need to bring up point handles.)

[gwpriester]

Arrange > Convert to Editable Shapes. In essence this changes the text into a group of vector objects.

The downside is if there is a typo or there is a correction that needs to be made, you can't. So always best to keep a copy in which the text is still editable text.

[angelize]

Just a note: When you convert text to editable shapes you need to ungroup twice. I usually use the keyboard shortcut ctrl+u. after ungrouping twice you can select individual letters and edit them.

[Dilaco]

Thank you Angelize. Without your “just a note” informing me to ungroup twice I would still be scratching my head, as I did mention in my post that I had already tried the “Convert to Editable Shapes’. And I did try ungrouping – but only once and not twice as now I see is necessary.

(This function must have changed in the last version or two, as I just went over my notes to see I had written that to convert text to shape you just do, as Gwpriester said, Convert to Editable Shapes - no mention of ungrouping. I tried it in Xara 6 and it worked without ungrouping. But in Xara Pro X (I have version 8) you need to do as you say, Angelize - you have to ungroup twice.)

[steve.ledger]

I tried it in Xara 6 and it worked without ungrouping.

Are you sure? Can you check again.
The double-ungroup of text converted to shapes in order to edit each 'vector' character has always been required since I've used Xara X1 and beyond.

[Dilaco]

Just did some more homework on this scenario, Sledger. I went back into Xara Designer 6 to test again:
In my Designer Pro 6, whether I type a single character or a whole word or several words, all I have to do is go Arrange > Convert to Editable Shapes, then double click on any letter and it brings up the Shape Editor tool with all point handles showing. However, if I try to bring up the Shape Editor tool by the conventional method of selecting it from the tool bar (instead of the double-click method) then in this case no point handles show. To make the point handles show by this method indeed I have to ungroup.
In Pro X it is different. In Pro X, after converting text to an editable shape, if I double click a letter it brings up an “edit inside” sub-document. If I double click the letter again (now in the sub-document) it brings up yet another edit inside sub-document, and only then can I use the Shape Editor Tool and get the point handles showing – because by this stage it has been ungrouped twice.
So the difference is that in Pro X the old double-click shortcut method of bringing up the point handles of an object in a group has been lost to the edit inside sub-document feature.
I have only recently realized that the obvious alternative is to hold down the Ctrl key whilst selecting a letter and then you can select the Shape tool to bring up the point handles without having to ungroup at all.

[steve.ledger]

In my Designer Pro 6, whether I type a single character or a whole word or several words, all I have to do is go Arrange > Convert to Editable Shapes, then double click on any letter and it brings up the Shape Editor tool with all point handles showing.

Yes, you're right - I have never used that method..

[ad1066]

Strictly speaking, if you simply select text and Convert to Editable Shapes, and then Ctrl-click on a letter, you should be able to edit the shape of that letter.

However, with my workflow I've gotten so used to Ctrl-Shift-S/Ctrl-U/Ctrl-U that I don't even consciously think about it any more.

-- Ben