Confused About Illustrator Type Characteristics? Know the difference Between Area and Point type

There are two types of text that you create in Adobe Illustrator using the simple Type Tool. One is known as point type; the other is area type and is useful for display text. If you grab your Type tool and click once, then type out a sentence, Illustrator creates "Point Type" with a blue point at the beginning and a line under your continued text. This where the term "point type" comes from. Point type is line-independent: if you were to remain in point type mode and type a whole paragraph, unless you hit the return or enter key on your keyboard, the type will go on indefinitely in one direction. It will never start a new line. 

The other kind of type you create is called area type (also called paragraph type) and is useful for body copy. You click and drag the type tool to make a bounding box (sometimes called a "container"). This forms an enclosure within which you can start typing. The text stays within that rectanglualar shape. You can tell you are in area mode when you see the bounding box versus the point-with-underline.

Use Baseline Shift to move selected characters up or down relative to the baseline of the surrounding text. Shifting the baseline is especially useful when you’re hand-setting fractions or adjusting the position of a picture font.

1. Select the characters or type objects you want to change. If you don’t select any text, the shift applies to new text you create.
2. In the Character panel, set the Baseline Shift option. Positive values move the character’s baseline above the baseline of the rest of the line; negative values move it below the baseline.
   

Type Tool Keyboard Shortcuts

• Select the Type Tool (T)
• Show/Hide Character Panel (Command + T)
• Show/Hide Open Type Panel (Alt + Shift + Command + T)
• Show/Hide Paragraph Panel (Alt + Command + T)
• Also Useful in the Type Windows are Glyphs...
  The Glyphs Panel shows you every character in a particular font, including decorative symbols. Glyphs can be useful for adding spacing between words.

REMEMBER! While your text is in editable mode, it can only be read accurately on a PC that has the same font installed. Copy the font and email it along with your art so the next party can install the font on their PC OR...Convert the text to an object using the expand command to permanently vectorize it as seen.