In the Layers list in Motion, select the group to add a text layer to.
Note: If no group is selected, the text is added to the last selected group (the underscored group in the Layers list).
In the canvas toolbar, click the Text tool (or press T).
Click in the canvas.
The insertion point flashes in the canvas. Before you enter text, an empty text layer is added to the project, and the Text HUD appears.
Note: If the HUD does not appear, press F7 or click the HUD button in the toolbar.
Optional: Choose font formatting options in the Format pane of the Text Inspector or in the HUD.
You can choose a font type, size, alignment, and more.
Enter text. As you type, he text appears in the canvas.
Note: By default, the text layout method (adjustable in the Layout pane of the Text Inspector) is set to Type. The Type layout option creates no right margin. Therefore, if you enter a long string of text, the characters extend on a single line beyond the edge of the canvas until you create a manual line break (by pressing Return). The Type layout mode is useful when you’re working with short strings of text and also when animating horizontal scrolling effects in the canvas. For information on changing text layout and setting margins, see “Add paragraph-style text with margins that wrap,” below.
When you finish typing, do one of the following:
- Press Esc.
- Press Command-Return.
- In the canvas toolbar, click the Select/Transform tool.
The text is selected (and appears with a bounding box in the canvas), the Select/Transform tool is selected, and the following occurs:
- The mini-Timeline and the text layer in the Layers list are labeled using the characters you typed.
- The same text appears in the timebars of the group and layer in the Timeline.
Important: After you finish typing, press Esc or select another tool in the canvas toolbar—don’t use a keyboard shortcut. When the Text tool is selected, typing a keyboard shortcut (other than Esc) adds text to the canvas.

Add paragraph-style text with margins that wrap

When the Text tool is selected, clicking in the canvas activates basic text entry; dragging in the canvas activates paragraph-style text entry. Paragraph-style text is contained within margins that cause the text you type to wrap to the next line. You can adjust the margins of the paragraph to create a column of text as narrow or as wide as you like.

In the Motion canvas toolbar, click the Text tool (or press T).
Drag in the canvas.
When you release the mouse button, a paragraph-style text entry field appears in the canvas. The field is enclosed within a bounding box representing margins; a ruler appears above the bounding box. In the Layout pane of the Text Inspector, the Layout Method pop-up menu is set to Paragraph.
Begin typing at the flashing insertion point.
Text automatically wraps to the next line when you reach the right margin (the right side of the bounding box).
Note: You can also type paragraph text in the Text editor field of the Format pane (in the Text Inspector).
When you finish typing, press Esc or Command-Return.
To adjust the margins, drag a handle on the bounding box.
When text extends beyond the upper and lower edges of the text-entry field, a scroll control appears on the right side of the text-entry field.
For more information about text margins, see Create and adjust text margins in Motion and Text Margins controls in Motion.

Add text from the Inspector

After you add a blank text object to your project (by selecting the Text tool and clicking in the canvas), you can enter and edit text in the Text editor of the Inspector, rather than in the canvas. The Text editor, located at the bottom of the Text Inspector’s Format pane, is useful when working with large amounts of text.

In Motion, click the Text tool (or press T), then click or drag in the canvas to create a blank text object.
If you click in the canvas, you activate the default layout method (Type), which requires that you insert manual line breaks (by pressing Return) to make text wrap to a new line.
If you drag in the canvas, you activate the Paragraph layout method, which wraps text into a column.
In the Text Inspector, click Format to open the Format pane.
Optional: Choose font formatting options in the Format pane.
You can choose a font type, size, alignment, and more.
Click in the Text editor at the bottom of the Format pane, then begin typing.
Note: To resize the Text editor, drag the three small gray circles along the bottom edge of the text field.

Import a text file

You can add plain text (TXT) or Rich Text Format (RTF) text to a Motion project. After you add a text file, you can edit its content the same way you edit Motion-created text. The appearance (font, size, layout, and so on) of the text imported from an RTF file is preserved (although some formatting options available in RTF files, such as text wrapping, are not supported in Motion); the text appearance in a TXT file is based on the settings in the Motion Text Inspector.

For more information about importing text files, see Using TXT and RTF files in Motion.

In Motion, import the TXT or RTF file you want to use.
The text is added to the canvas, ready to be modified.

Copy and paste text from another application

You can copy text from another document or browser and paste the text into a Motion project.

Open the text document (an RTF, TXT, Pages, or other text file) in a text-editing application.
Select and copy the text.
In the canvas toolbar of Motion, select the Text tool, click in the canvas, then choose Edit > Paste (or press Command-V).

Consider the following guidelines when pasting text from another application into Motion:

Pasted RTF text retains the original font attributes, including family and typeface, size, color, outline, and drop shadow.
When pasted, pure black text is converted to white text.
White text copied from Motion is pasted to the clipboard as black text.
Text pasted into an empty text-entry field in the canvas or into the Text editor (in the Format pane of the Text Inspector) retains its original paragraph format, including alignment, justification, and tabs.
Text pasted into existing text in the canvas or in the Text editor does not retain its original paragraph format.
If an image is copied with the text, the image is not included when the text is pasted in Motion.
Dynamically numbered lists are not supported. Lists become standard text when pasted.

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Helpful?

Motion User Guide

Add text in Motion

Add basic text in the canvas

Add paragraph-style text with margins that wrap

Add text from the Inspector

Import a text file

Copy and paste text from another application