Path Data

path() returns the whole run as one outline. Use it when the text belongs inside a drawing you are already assembling, or when something other than atelier/svg will do the rendering.

use Atelier\Text\SvgText;

$path = SvgText::fromFile(__DIR__.'/fonts/Inter-Regular.woff2')
    ->path('Atelier', size: 56, baselineY: 64);

$path->d();             // 'M 11.2 63.6 L 28.1 17 L 35 17 ...'
$path->advanceWidth;    // 170.46
$path->isEmpty();       // false

What comes back

TextPath carries three things and nothing else.

Member	Type	What it is
`d()`	`string`	every glyph's contours, concatenated, in one `d` attribute
`$advanceWidth`	`float`	how far the run advances, including any spacing you asked for
`isEmpty()`	`bool`	true when the text produced no glyphs, as an empty string does

$advanceWidth is the value to use when you lay several runs out yourself: it is where the next one starts, not the ink's bounding box. A run ending in a space advances past it even though nothing was drawn.

Placement

Argument	Default	Effect
`size`	required	em size, in user units
`x`	`0.0`	where the run starts horizontally
`baselineY`	`0.0`	the baseline, not the top of the text

baselineY catches people out. It is the line the glyphs sit on, so ascenders go above it and descenders below. Leaving it at zero puts most of the text at negative coordinates, above the origin.

// A 56-unit run, sitting on a baseline 64 units down.
$path = $text->path('Atelier', size: 56, x: 12, baselineY: 64);

Spacing

Two arguments change the gaps, and both are in user units rather than ems.

Argument	Default	Applies to
`letterSpacing`	`0.0`	between glyphs
`wordSpacing`	`0.0`	in addition, at every space

$text->path('OUTLINE', size: 44, letterSpacing: 6);

The second run advances 227.08 against 191.08: 36 units wider, which is six units in each of the six gaps between seven glyphs, and nothing after the last. That width is in $advanceWidth, so a layout reading it stays correct.

Word spacing needs more than one word to show anything:

$text->path('one two', size: 44, wordSpacing: 24);

One space, twenty-four units: 191.19 against 167.19. Word spacing is added on top of letter spacing rather than instead of it, so setting both widens the gap at a space twice.

One glyph can be several contours

The path data of a single glyph is not always one closed shape. Filled, that composites correctly and nobody notices. Stroked, the construction shows:

The A comes back as its envelope plus a separate rectangle for the crossbar. This matters only if you stroke the output instead of filling it: use fill-rule="nonzero", which is the default, and fill it.

Next: SVG documents.