Map to path

Map to path

Map to path places your selection along a curve or line. Use it to arc lettering around a badge, walk a motif along a border, or space repeats evenly around a circle.

This is a Pro feature. Without a subscription, Map to path in the Edit shape menu shows a crown and opens the upgrade prompt. Existing mappings can still be edited or detached.

Shortcut: P

Getting started

1. Select the shapes you want on the path — letters, a motif, or a group
2. Open Edit shape and choose Map to path (or press P)
3. Click a path on the canvas. Hover highlights valid paths in yellow.

If your selection already includes the content and exactly one open path, mapping starts right away — no extra click.

Grouped shapes stay together as one placement. Ungrouped shapes are each placed on their own.

To finish Map to path: Click Enter to keep the mapping, or Escape to cancel.

Handles on the path

Once things are mapped, teal handles appear on the path:

• Start and end squares — trim which part of the path is used
• Middle diamond — slide the whole range along the path
• Purple arrows — lift everything off the path, or push it to the other side

Nudging a single object

Click an object on the path to focus it. Extra handles appear just for that one:

• Amber diamond — slide it along the path without moving its neighbors
• Purple arrows — lift only that object
• Teal rotate arc — spin it in place. Hold Ctrl (Cmd on Mac) to snap to 15°

A yellow preview follows while you drag. The stitches update when you let go.

Click the path (or empty canvas) to go back to editing the whole range.

Options

A bar at the bottom of the canvas controls how objects sit on the path:

• Repeat — duplicate the selection along the range
  • Fill — pack as many as fit, then stretch them evenly across the path
  • Count — place an exact number of copies
• Hide path — keep the path for layout, but don’t stitch it and hide it from the sequencer
• Rotate — turn objects so they follow the path (on by default). Turn it off to keep their original angle
• Reverse — flip reading direction. Use this so text on the bottom of a circle reads the same way as text on top
• Detach — freeze objects where they are and unlink them from the path

If several mappings share the same path, tabs like Path 1 / Path 2 switch which one you’re editing.

Edit or detach later

Select a mapped group, then:

• Edit map to path — reopen the handles and options
• Detach from path — keep the current pose, but the objects are no longer tied to the path. You can move them on their own after that

Tips

• Draw the path first (an open line works well), then select the content and map
• For curved text, insert the letters, select them, and map onto an arc or circle
• Turn Hide path on when the path is only a guide
• After Detach, objects stay put — they just stop following the path if you reshape it later