Dragon Trail 

I own the intellectual copyright for the written tutorial.  What you make is yours, but please do not take my tutorial.  Share only my link.

This tutorial is intended for a beginner to learn how to type text on a path and animate it.  If you have any questions, please feel free to email me.

To do this tutorial you will also need Photoshop CS3 - CS4.  You may download a free trial at Adobe.

Remember to save as a .psd file often!

1.  Open new, transparent image, size 500 x 500 px

2.  Choose the Freeform Pen tool

3.  Set the pen tool to Paths

4.  Draw a fun path.  If you make loops like I did, don't make them too tiny or tight.  Remember, words will be going on this path.  Make it simple, if this is your first time.

5.  Choose the Horizontal Type Tool

6.  In the Layer Palette, click on the Paths tab

7.  Set the justification of the type to left-justify.  I chose Arial type, size 14 pt

8.  Hover the cursor over the work path until you get the cursor to look like this:

9.  When the cursor has that angle mark, left-click on the work path and type your text.

10.  Click on the Green check to accept the text

11.  In the Paths palette, click back on the WORK PATH layer

12.  Hover on the work path at a point further along the path and type your text again.

13.  Repeat Steps 10 & 11.

14.  Repeat Steps 12 - 13 until you have reached the end of your path, like so

15.  Right-click on the Work Path layer (see pink X) and choose Delete Path.

16.  Click on the Layers tab in the layer palette

17.  Right-click on EACH text layer and choose Rasterize type

18.  Open up the tube you want to use to make fly. I used a dragon, but you could use a bird, fairy, bat, etc.  Select > All   Edit > Copy

19.  On your text image, click on the bottom layer.

20.  Edit > paste

21.  If you need to resize the tube:  Edit > Transform > Scale  Click on the lock between width and height , and then drag the corners in to make smaller

22.  In the layer palette, click on the eyes of all the layers but the bottom two.  With the mover tool, move the dragon to the end of your text line.

23.  If you need to turn the tube:  Edit > transform > rotate  Then drag one of the corners to turn your tube to the angle that you need it.

24.  Right-click on the tube layer and choose duplicate layer

25.  In the layer palette, drag the duplicate layer up above the NEXT type layer.

26.  HIDE the two layers you were working on.  UNHIDE the next type layer.

27.  Move your tube and rotate it as necessary.

28.  Repeat Steps 24 - 27, until you have a dragon next to each text layer.

29.  Now check your layer palette, to make sure your layers are arranged properly.  It should alternate:  dragon, text, dragon, text, dragon, text,... all the way down the layer palette.

30.  UNHIDE all the layers by clicking on the eyes.

31.  Right-click on the top dragon layer and choose Merge Down

32.  Right-click on each dragon layer and Merge Down.  You should be left with layers that have text and dragon on each.

33.  Window > Animation

34.  Click on the menu arrow at the top right of the frames window (pink circle) and choose Make Frames From Layers

34.  Click on the time arrow (pink circle) and choose the time delay ON EACH Frame.  I set the last frame to 1.0

35.  File > Save for Web & Devices.

 Please do not remove this tutorial from my site.  Share my url.