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This tutorial demonstrates how to apply basic text/type using Adobe Photoshop CS to CS6.
Understanding Layers
Understand CS4, CS5 & CS6’s Workspace And Palettes
Table Of Contents
Apply Text/Type
Create A Fill Layer
Choose A Text Colour
Centralise Your Image
Vectors & Rasters Explained
Commit Text To Your Canvas
Create Multiple Text-String Lines
Utilise Photoshop’s Spell Checker
Add A Drop Shadow And A Bevel
Apply Special Styles To Applied Text
Should I Choose Vector Or Raster Text?
Save Your Text As A PSD File (Retain Its Vector Properties)
Alter Your Text’s Attributes, Colour, Font Etc. (After It Has Been Applied)
Undo and Navigation Steps
Two ways of undoing steps are from the top menu, Edit then Step Backwards.
Alternatively, click a previous snapshot in the History Palette.Navigate (zoom in and pan) your image using the Navigator Palette,
or the Zoom Tool. 
Activate The Hand Tool by tapping the Spacebar, keeping the Spacebar pressed, pan your image in the usual way. 
1/ Apply Text
Open a New Image (File then New - Ctrl then N). Then set the following Height, Width and Background Contents (Transparent) attributes - or your select own choice, and then click OK.
Then centralise your New Image’s grey workspace by dragging out one of its corners.
CS4/CS5 Tip: Snap Your Image To The Top Menu’s Horizontal Bar
Another way of centralising an image is to snap it to the top (horizontal) menu-bar by dragging your image towards it: as soon as you see a blue horizontal bar, your image should automatically snap to it.
2/
Now, from the left-side Tools Toolbar, activate the following Horizontal Type Tool tab.
And enter your choice of text attributes into the Options Bar - I chose a Font named Arial.
(You will find the Text Tool’s Option Bar along Photoshop’s upper menu).
Text Colour Note
To select your choice of Text Colour, click over the following (Black) Colour Swatch.
And from the subsequent Select text colour dialogue box, left-click over the thin middle vertical colour bar to select a new Colour. And then left-click over the large left-side Colour Picker area to set a Colour Hue of your choice - and click OK - as demonstrated below.
Now, (with the Horizontal Type Tool still active), left-click once over your New Transparent Image. After left-clicking, you will notice the following blinking “I-beam”.
Go ahead and type in your choice of text. As you type, you will notice the following
I-beam at the end of your Text String.
Continue applying your Text String, and then remember to stop, before running out of canvas space.
To apply a Text String underneath the first Text String, tap your Enter/Return Key (the Carriage Key). This will move the Text Cursor to the next line, much like a Word Processor - as illustrated below.
Now, type in your choice of Text String, and it will be applied beneath the first - as illustrated below.
Tip
If your Text String runs our of space, then left-click underneath the text, and then drag it to a central position - as illustrated below.
Third Text Line Tip
If you run out of canvas, you can move part of your text to create a Third Text Line. To create a Third Text Line, move the I-beam so it is positioned immediately before the text you want to push down to a Third Text Line - as illustrated below.
Now, tap your Enter/Return Key. The Text after the I-beam will then be pushed down to create a Third Line, as illustrated below.
Reposition your text to its final position by left-clicking below it and dragging the Text String to its new home.
To commit your text to the canvas, click the following Commit Text tick.
Congratulations, you have successfully created basic text. Now that it has been applied, the text can be altered, or you can apply a Bevel or a Drop Shadow to it.
3/ Bevel And Drop Shadow
To apply an Bevel and a Drop Shadow to your text, from the top menu, choose Layer then choose Layer Style and then choose Drop Shadow. Now, from the subsequent Layer Styles dialogue box, accept the default (right-side) Drop Shadow settings, or alter them to suit your needs. (However, don’t click OK).
Now, from the Layer Style’s Left-side Panel, click to highlight Bevel And Emboss. Then from the Layer Style’s Right-side Panel, accept the default Bevel And Emboss settings, or alter them to suit your needs, and then click OK.
Save Tip
It’s a good time to save your Layered Image as a PSD (Photoshop) File; top menu, then File then Save As.
Vectors And Rasters Explained
A Raster Image is pixel-oriented, while a Vector Image is object oriented.
Raster images display objects by combining units of coloured light, called pixels. If you zoom in, you can see each pixel as a small square. When you move an object in a Raster image, you move the pixels, which affects the entire image. A Vector object does not use pixels for storing image information. Instead, it stores a Vector object as a set of properties that describe its attributes, dimensions, and position in the image. Each time an image is opened, these properties are used as instructions for drawing the objects. Because the objects are independent elements, you can move them without affecting the rest of the image. You can add Vector objects to images of colour depths that are too low to support Raster objects. While only greyscale and 24-bit colour images can contain multiple Raster objects, images of any colour depth can contain multiple Vector objects.
Vector Text Note
To be able to change your text’s attributes, (Font, Colour etc), your text must be created as Vector Text. By default, Photoshop’s Type Tool creates Vector Text. Once applied, Vector Text appears in the Layers Palette, as illustrated below.
Understand Layers
However, to apply certain third-party Plugins, such as Eyecandy, to your Text; your text must first be Rasterised. (Converted to Raster Text). To convert Photoshop’s default Vector Text to Raster; from Photoshop’s top menu, choose Layer and then choose Rasterise and then choose Type - as demonstrated below.
After you have Rasterised your text, the Layers Palette will reflect the Rasterisation - as demonstrated below.
(You will notice the Layers Palette’s thumbnail is now Transparent).
Note
Once you have Rasterised your text, and have closed down Photoshop, the text cannot be Vectorised. However, if you saved it as a PSD (Photoshop File) prior to closing Photoshop, when you next open the file into Photoshop, the Text will remained Vectorised, and can therefore be edited.
Change Your Vectorised Text’s Attributes - Colour, Size Font, etc.
If you don’t convert your text to a Raster image, you can easily change its Font, Colour, Size etc. To change its attributes, from the Type Tool’s Upper Ribbon - alter its Colour, Size or Font etc. As soon as you alter its attributes, your text will immediately reflect the change (s) - as illustrated below.
Change The Font Example
Change The Text’s Size Example
Change Your Text’s Rendering (Sharp, Crisp, Strong or Smooth) Example
Centralise Your Text Example
Warp Your Text Example
Toggle The Character And Paragraph Panels Example
Italic, Bold, Regular Etc, Available With Some Fonts Example
Utilise Photoshop’s Spell Checker
Right-click over your text, and from the subsequent drop-down list, click Check Spelling.
If you have produced a spelling mistake, you are able to correct it by altering Photoshop’s Check Spelling Panel. After you have corrected any spelling errors, finish by clicking Change and then click Done.
Change The Spell Check’s Language
To change the spell checker’s dictionary; from the top menu, choose Window then choose Character, and in the following Character Panel, change the dictionary to your country’s language.
 
Commit Your Text
When you are happy with your text’s attributes, click the following Commit Tick to apply the changes.
4/
Your text is ready to Crop to size. Therefore, activate the Crop Tool and remove the unwanted transparent area that surrounds your text.
Remember to click the following Green Commit Crop Tick to commit the Crop.
Create A Fill Layer Tip
To fill the Transparent Background with either a Solid Colour, Pattern or a Gradient, from the top menu, choose Layer and then choose New Fill Layer and then choose from either Solid Colour, Gradient or Pattern.
And from the subsequent New Layer dialogue box, click OK.
Then from the subsequent Fill dialogue box, select your choice of Solid Colour, Gradient or Pattern, and then click OK.
Now, (from the Layers Palette), left-click and drag the Fill Layer to the bottom of the Layers Stack.
 
Apply Special Effects (Styles) To Applied Text
To apply special effects, (Styles) to your applied text, bring up the Styles Palette by, from the top menu, choosing Window and then clicking a tick before Styles - as illustrated below.
 
Now, from the Styles Palette, left-click over a special effect you like the look of, and your text will reflect the change - as illustrated below.
 
Save Tip
Now is a good time to save your Layered Image as a PSD (Photoshop) File - top menu, then File then Save As.
5/
Congratulations, your text is complete and it is ready to optimise and save - as demonstrated here.
Tip
To retain its crispness, it’s advisable to save your text as a Gif, as opposed to saving it as a Jpeg.
Wendi E M Scarth. Top of Page - Home.
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