183. Add a Text Caption or Label See Also  184 Bend Text
185 Create a Sales Sign 187 Create Metallic Text 188 Create Text That Glows 189 Emboss Text 190 Fill Text with an Image 191 Add Copyright Information
You add a text label or caption to your image using the Type tool on the Toolbox. When you select the Type tool, you can customize how the text will look by selecting the appropriate options such as font, size, style (such as bold, italic, or underline), orientation (such as left-aligned or centered), and color on the Options bar. You typically select the text settings before typing to create your text label. If you decide to change the text settings after typing the text, you must change to the Type tool again (if you've been doing something else), select the text, and then edit it or change the Options bar settings. You add a text label to your image as either vertical (up and down) or horizontal (left to right) text. You specify the direction of the text by clicking either the Horizontal Type or Vertical Type tool. However, because text is just an object, you can rotate, skew, or distort it after the fact by using the Move tool (see 99 Move, Resize, Skew, or Distort a Layer). You can also change its direction from horizontal to vertical if needed, and make other adjustments as well. This task shows you how to add text to an image; to learn how to add text as a selection you can fill, modify, and use just like any other selection, see 190 Fill Text with an Image. NOTE  | Normally, when choosing fonts to use in a file that you intend to share with other people, you should select a font you know they also have, or risk having your text re-rendered in an alternative font. However, unless you're going to share your actual PSD working file, you can use any font you like because the vector text will be converted to raster when you flatten the image to save it in a single layer format such as non-layered TIFF, JPEG, or GIF. See 102 Merge or Flatten Layers into One. |
1. | Select Type Tool
Open an image in the Editor in Standard Edit mode and save it in Photoshop (*.psd) format. On the Layers palette, select the layer below which you want the text layer to appear. The text layer will be inserted above the layer you choose. Select the Type tool on the Toolbox.
| 2. | Select Text Orientation
In the Options bar, click the Horizontal Type tool to have the text display horizontally across the image. Click the Vertical Type tool to have the text display vertically down the image.
| 3. | Select Font and Size
Click the arrow next to the Font drop-down list box and select the font you want to use for your text label or caption. From the Size drop-down list, select a font size or type a size (in points) in the Size text box.
 | 4. | Select Text Color and Style
Text color is set to the current foreground color automatically, but you can choose a different color now by opening the Color list and selecting a color from the swatch palette. To pick a color using the Color Picker, click the More Colors button just below the swatch palette. The color you choose will be added to the Colors drop-down list box.
You can apply a layer style to the text layer by choosing one from the Style list.
Click the Anti-aliased button located just to the right of the Size box to soften curves in your text. Add bold, italics, underline, or strikethrough attributes, choose a text alignment, and set the leading to Auto or specify a specific value (if you plan to type multiple lines of text).
NOTE | You can select portions of text by dragging over it and apply formats such as bold to just those characters. |
| 5. | Click to Establish Alignment Point
Click in the image where you want to align the text.
TIPS  | To change text after committing it, click the text layer on the Layers palette and then choose a Type tool or double-click the text layer's thumbnail. Select the text and then make the changes to the settings on the Options bar. To change horizontal text to vertical text or vice versa, select the text and click the Change the Text Orientation button. If you do not like the positioning of the text after committing, select the text layer in the Layers palette and click the Move tool on the Toolbox. A bounding box appears around the text object. Click within this box and drag the text to the desired location on the layer. |
| 6. | Type Text
Start typing. If you chose Center text in step 4, for example, the text you type is centered on the point where you clicked in step 5. Press Enter to begin a second line of text. Make changes to the text as needed. You can press Backspace to erase characters to the left of the vertical cursor, or press Delete to remove characters to the right.
When you are satisfied with your text label or caption, click the Commit button on the Options bar (the check mark), or click Cancel (circle with slash) to not add the text. The text is also added when you click another tool in the Toolbox. The text is added to your image on a new text layer, which is named using the text you wrote. The text layer is marked in the Layers palette with a large T on its layer thumbnail.
Make additional changes to the image. When you're satisfied with the image, save the PSD file. Then merge the layers together and resave the result in JPEG or TIFF format, leaving your PSD image unflattened so that you can return at a later time and make different adjustments if you want.
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