How to stretch text in Illustrator
Set Horizontal Scale / Vertical Scale in the Character panel for exact percentages, or, on point text, drag a side handle with the Selection tool. The text stays live. To stretch single letters, use the Touch Type tool.
The manual way, in Illustrator
- Select the text object. Open the Character panel (⌘T), show options, and set Horizontal Scale or Vertical Scale.
- On point text you can also drag the middle handle on one side with the Selection tool. On area text that resizes the frame and reflows the words instead of stretching the glyphs, so use the Character panel there.
- For one letter: Touch Type tool (Shift+T), click the letter, drag the lower-right handle to stretch it horizontally or the top-left one to stretch it vertically.
Stretching distorts the letterforms; for tall type, try a condensed style of the font, or its width axis, before stretching.
Menu paths checked against Adobe's current Illustrator documentation; hands-on verification and screenshots are still to come.
2 effects in JuicyType
Party! scale is per letter and seeded, which gives the hand-set, uneven look designers stretch letters for.
Common questions
Why does stretched text look thin?
Horizontal compression below 100% narrows the vertical stems; expansion above 100% widens them. Either way the balance between vertical and horizontal strokes changes. Try a condensed or expanded style, or a width axis, when the font has one; otherwise add a small stroke in the same colour, or use JuicyType Strokes with one band.