Designing resilient charts using Illustrator's Object on Path tool

Various new features for design tools were announced at Adobe MAX on 10/14!
After trying out several of them, I found the new 'Object on Path' tool added to Adobe Illustrator to be very useful, so I'd like to introduce how to use it in practical work.

I often create time schedules for event flyers, and there are many times when trouble occurs because the schedule changes at the last minute...!
When there are many planned events, you have to make minor adjustments, such as shifting times or adding content. In such cases, if you use the Object on Path feature I just introduced,you can create them without breaking the layout when moving or adding/removing items from the list!

Here is a video of me actually doing it.

If you want to see the structure in the data, you can download it here.

If you prefer to read in text, please see the supplementary explanation below.

Materials to prepare

First, prepare the following materials.

The orange line is the axis used when converting to an object on a path, and I have used a conspicuous color to make the work easier to understand.

How to make

❶ Select the orange line and the title group → Select 'Object on Path' → Click the target object

The icon that looks like a square next to a distorted line is the Object on Path tool.

If the Object on Path tool icon is not there, press the '...' at the bottom of the icon group to add it.

When you select the Object on Path tool, it will look like the following, so click the orange line that serves as the axis.

Then it looks like the following.

It clearly looks strange as it is, so I will adjust the axis.

❷ Adjust the position of the object

Change the axis pivot to the left end and adjust the orientation of the title.

Next, set the angle to 180°.

I was able to fix the state where it was reversed from the original position.
If the pivot remains at the initial center, the axis will shift when you edit the text, so make sure to adjust the pivot to the position where you want to align the text.
Since it is left-aligned this time, it is at the left edge, but if you want to right-align it, you would set the pivot to the right edge.

❸ Set the axis line color to none

Now that the axis adjustment is finished, I will remove the orange line.

Once the line is removed, place the object from earlier onto the dotted line, using the ◎ as the starting point.

And it's done!
Now, you can add or remove items or change the order according to your needs.

What you can do with this design

I will introduce the following three ways to use the timeline design I created.

❶ Add or remove items

Select only the title group and copy & paste it to increase the number of items along the dotted axis.

This saves the trouble of adjusting the margins every time you add or remove items!

This is easier to understand with the movement in the video, so please check the video in the post I introduced earlier.

❷ Change the order of items

Select the circle in the list and drag it up or down to change the position of the item.

It's super convenient because when an event time changes suddenly, you can adjust it just by dragging it up or down!

❸ Adjusting margins

By selecting only the line used for the axis and shortening it,you can also tighten the margins.

This means you don't have to adjust the margins for the entire title when you're concerned about spacing!

Concerns and solutions when submitting for print

Although it's a convenient feature, since it's a new function,it's scary to think about potential issues like layout breaking when printing.In such cases,
you can select the element converted to a Type on a Path object and click Object > Path > Type on a Path > Expand in the menuto revert it to a standard group.

Applied design examples

Price list

After creating this time schedule, I thought, 'Actually, a table type seems more common...' so I experimented with that and it worked.
You can swap content with a single action.

For horizontal axes, aligning the pivot to the bottom will straighten it out.
However, since the text might be reversed, you can use the rotate function to flip it.

This is the data I used, so feel free to use it if you want to see the structure.

Pricing plans

I also came up with an idea where you can move not just the contents, but the cells themselves.

If you draw a line starting from the center of one column of cellsand set it as a Type on a Path object, the table will move while staying perfectly attached.
The cell blocks are grouped column by column as shown below.

Access map

This is an element frequently used in brochures and on access pages of websites, but sometimes modifications are needed when new transportation lines are established or routes change.
In such cases, if you convert them to Type on a Path objects, you can rearrange the order.

The station name section uses Appearance to create an outer frame, so it maintains the margins even as the text length changes.

There is one thing to be careful about when creating an access map.
Type on a Path objects distribute elements evenly,so if the materials you group are notall the same length,you will end up with strange margins when adjusting them.As long as the total values are the same, it's fine,so if a location name is long, it's a good idea to adjust the length of the line.

Looking at it this way, it can be used similarly to Figma's Auto Layout feature, so as a web designer, this was one of the features that really impressed me!

If you found this helpful, please press the ❤ button; it will fuel my future writing!