Tip for distorting items into a curve

Have you tried to bend text using the Arc feature when you're editing the text? Sometimes it gives me the look I want but most of the time it doesn't. I was creating a metal charm embellishment today and wanted it to curve. The Liquify filter distorted my image so I played around with the Distort->Shear filter. Voila'!


Here's how it works. First, your item needs to be completely vertical. Then selection Filter, Distort, and then Shear. You'll get a popup window with a little graph where you can drag the middle handle (square thingy) to the right and different vertical positions to bend your item. If you're doing this with text, you'll need to Simplify the layer first. When you're done, you can simply rotate it by 90 degrees and place it on your layout. The beauty of this method is that you get a nice consistent curve without distortion!


Example: