On my blog, I take a fairly close look at creating circular text using HTML5 Canvas:
blog.graphicsgen.com
In the example, options include rounded text alignment (left, center and right) from a given angle, inward and outward facing text, kerning (adjustable gap between characters) and text inside or outside the radius.
There is also a jsfiddle with a working example.
It is as follows:
document.body.appendChild(getCircularText("ROUNDED TEXT LOOKS BEST IN CAPS!", 250, 0, "center", false, true, "Arial", "18pt", 2));
function getCircularText(text, diameter, startAngle, align, textInside, inwardFacing, fName, fSize, kerning) {
// text: The text to be displayed in circular fashion
// diameter: The diameter of the circle around which the text will
// be displayed (inside or outside)
// startAngle: In degrees, Where the text will be shown. 0 degrees
// if the top of the circle
// align: Positions text to left right or center of startAngle
// textInside: true to show inside the diameter. False to show outside
// inwardFacing: true for base of text facing inward. false for outward
// fName: name of font family. Make sure it is loaded
// fSize: size of font family. Don't forget to include units
// kearning: 0 for normal gap between letters. positive or
// negative number to expand/compact gap in pixels
//------------------------------------------------------------------------
// declare and intialize canvas, reference, and useful variables
align = align.toLowerCase();
var mainCanvas = document.createElement('canvas');
var ctxRef = mainCanvas.getContext('2d');
var clockwise = align == "right" ? 1 : -1; // draw clockwise for aligned right. Else Anticlockwise
startAngle = startAngle * (Math.PI / 180); // convert to radians
// calculate height of the font. Many ways to do this
// you can replace with your own!
var div = document.createElement("div");
div.innerHTML = text;
div.style.position = 'absolute';
div.style.top = '-10000px';
div.style.left = '-10000px';
div.style.fontFamily = fName;
div.style.fontSize = fSize;
document.body.appendChild(div);
var textHeight = div.offsetHeight;
document.body.removeChild(div);
// in cases where we are drawing outside diameter,
// expand diameter to handle it
if (!textInside) diameter += textHeight * 2;
mainCanvas.width = diameter;
mainCanvas.height = diameter;
// omit next line for transparent background
mainCanvas.style.backgroundColor = 'lightgray';
ctxRef.fillStyle = 'black';
ctxRef.font = fSize + ' ' + fName;
// Reverse letters for align Left inward, align right outward
// and align center inward.
if (((["left", "center"].indexOf(align) > -1) && inwardFacing) || (align == "right" && !inwardFacing)) text = text.split("").reverse().join("");
// Setup letters and positioning
ctxRef.translate(diameter / 2, diameter / 2); // Move to center
startAngle += (Math.PI * !inwardFacing); // Rotate 180 if outward
ctxRef.textBaseline = 'middle'; // Ensure we draw in exact center
ctxRef.textAlign = 'center'; // Ensure we draw in exact center
// rotate 50% of total angle for center alignment
if (align == "center") {
for (var j = 0; j < text.length; j++) {
var charWid = ctxRef.measureText(text[j]).width;
startAngle += ((charWid + (j == text.length-1 ? 0 : kerning)) / (diameter / 2 - textHeight)) / 2 * -clockwise;
}
}
// Phew... now rotate into final start position
ctxRef.rotate(startAngle);
// Now for the fun bit: draw, rotate, and repeat
for (var j = 0; j < text.length; j++) {
var charWid = ctxRef.measureText(text[j]).width; // half letter
// rotate half letter
ctxRef.rotate((charWid/2) / (diameter / 2 - textHeight) * clockwise);
// draw the character at "top" or "bottom"
// depending on inward or outward facing
ctxRef.fillText(text[j], 0, (inwardFacing ? 1 : -1) * (0 - diameter / 2 + textHeight / 2));
ctxRef.rotate((charWid/2 + kerning) / (diameter / 2 - textHeight) * clockwise); // rotate half letter
}
// Return it
return (mainCanvas);
}