How to Size and Align Text to Objects in Illustrator
Learn how to easily size and align text to other elements in an Illustrator file based on the text’s x-height, instead of the text’s bounding box.

In this “Three Minutes Max” video, Rob de Winter shows how to overcome an issue with sizing and aligning text in Illustrator in regards to other objects. He reveals an added setting in the Character panel that allows you to set measurements based on the text’s x-height for better manipulation. Rob then demos how to align text—and not its bounding box—with an object.
Three Minutes Max comes from a fun—yet very competitive—session at our annual CreativePro Week conference. Speakers have three minutes to wow the audience with the tip and win a prize for a lucky conference attendee.
Subscribe to the CreativePro YouTube channel for more helpful design tips!
This article was last modified on August 29, 2025
This article was first published on June 26, 2024