Preset: A pop-up menu at the top of the Format pane used to apply preset text styles from the Library. You can also use this pop-up menu to save format settings (and appearance settings from the Appearance pane) of text in your project. The default menu item is Normal—which means that no presets are applied).
For more information on applying and saving text styles, see Use preset text styles in Motion.
Collection: A pop-up menu to filter the font categories available in the Font pop-up menu. When set to All Fonts, every font installed on your macOS system appears in the Font pop-up menu.
Font: A pop-up menu to choose a font for selected text.
Typeface: An unlabeled pop-up menu (to the right of the Font pop-up menu) to choose a type style, such as Regular, Bold, Condensed, and so on. The available typefaces are specific to the font family selected in the Font pop-up menu.
Size: A slider to set the point size of the text. The slider is constrained to a maximum of 288 points. To create larger text, drag to the right over the numeric value, or click the value, type a new number, then press Return.
Note: You can also scale text in the canvas using onscreen controls, but doing so scales text as an object independently of type point size.
Alignment: Buttons to set the alignment and justification of text.
Vertical Alignment: Buttons to set the vertical alignment of text.
Line Spacing: A slider to set the distance between each line of text (leading) in point-size increments.
Tip: To modify the spacing for individual lines of text when hard returns are present, select text with the Text tool, then adjust the Line Spacing slider. Spacing is modified on the line that includes the selected text.
Tracking: A slider to set the spacing between text characters, applying a uniform value between each character.
Kerning: A slider to adjust spacing between text characters.
Baseline: A slider to adjust the baseline of text characters (an invisible horizontal line defining the bottom alignment of characters).

Advanced Formatting controls

Scale: A slider to resize text characters proportionally. To scale in only X or Y space, click the disclosure triangle to set separate X and Y scale values.
Affects Layout: A checkbox (available when the Scale parameter is disclosed) to set how scaling affects text. For example, when Affects Layout is deselected and text is on an open spline path (and Wrap Around is deselected in the Layout pane), increasing the Scale parameter causes text characters to bunch up along the length of the path. When Affects Layout is selected, increasing scale extends text characters beyond the path; decreasing scale bunches up characters toward their set alignment (left, right, or center).
Offset: Value sliders to offset text from its original position (anchor point). Click the disclosure triangle to access separate X, Y, and Z position values.
Rotation: A dial to rotate text characters in Z space. Click the disclosure triangle to access separate X, Y, and Z rotation controls and also the Animate pop-up menu.
Animate: A pop-up menu (available when the Rotation parameter is disclosed) to change the interpolation for animated 3D rotation channels. There are two menu options:
- Use Rotation: The default interpolation method, whereby text characters rotate from their start rotation to their final rotation. Depending on the animation, the characters may twist before reaching their final orientation (the last keyframed value). For example, if the X, Y, and Z Rotation parameters are animated from 0 degrees to 180 degrees in a project, the text characters rotate on all axes before reaching their final orientation.
- Use Orientation: This method provides smoother interpolation but does not allow multiple revolutions; interpolates between the text characters’ start orientation (first keyframe) and their end orientation (second keyframe).
For more information about the Animate parameter, see Properties Inspector controls in Motion.
Note: You must keyframe the Rotation parameter for the Animate parameter options have an effect.
Slant: A slider to simulate italics by adding a slant value to text characters.
Monospace: A checkbox that, when selected, applies a fixed amount of space between each text character.
All Caps: A checkbox to make text characters uppercase.
All Caps Size: A slider (available when the All Caps checkbox is selected) to set the size of uppercase characters based on a percentage of the font point size.
Editable in FCP: A checkbox that, when selected, allows editing of text strings, text size, and text tracking in templates published to Final Cut Pro X.
For more information on publishing to Final Cut Pro, see Intro to Final Cut Pro templates in Motion.

Text editor

Text: A text field (the darker shaded area) to add and edit text in your project from the Inspector. For more information, see Add text in Motion.

Helpful?

Motion User Guide

Text Format controls in Motion

Basic Formatting controls

Advanced Formatting controls

Text editor