Setting Type

As mentioned earlier, there are two ways to set type in Photoshop. The first and simplest way is to click in the image where you want the type. If you select flush left on the Tool Options bar or the Paragraph palette, your text will stream right from the insertion point. If you select centered, Photoshop will center the words around your insertion point as you enter them. Flush right sends the text shooting off to the left from your right-side insertion point. Figure 17.4 shows examples of each.

Figure 17.4. Text flows from the insertion point.

The other way to position type, when you have to set a lot of it or when you need to fill a specific area, is to drag a bounding box. Simply select the Type tool, click it to create the corner point of the box, and drag until the box is approximately the right size and shape (see Figure 17.5). You can go back after you've entered the type and resize the box, if necessary.

Figure 17.5. The type bounding box determines the shape of the block of text. Photoshop automatically breaks the line at the edge of the bounding box.

Enter the text by typing it, or by copying and pasting from another program. Type always appears on a new layer. Type layers are indicated in the Layers palette by a large letter T , as you can see in Figure 17.6. Type layers are named according to the first word(s) you type. If you want to edit your type, switch to the Type tool and click in the text. Double-clicking the T also selects the type so that you can apply changes. If the type's not selected, you can't edit it.

Figure 17.6. Each line is on a different type layer.

If you have set a lot of text into a bounding box, now's the time to adjust the leading, paragraph spacing, and indents, if any. The Layers palette will show you only the first few words of the type you have set, so be sure that you have selected the right type layer, if you have several.

After you create a type layer, you can edit its text and insert new text, or delete some. You can make changes in the text itself or in the font, style, or size. You can change the orientation of the type from horizontal to vertical; you can apply or change the type of anti-aliasing. You can move, copy, or change the order of layers, or change the layer options of a type layer as you can for a regular layer. You can use layer styles. You can apply most of the Transform commands from the Edit menu, except Perspective and Distort. (To apply the Perspective or Distort commands, or to transform just part of the type layer, you must first rasterize the type layer to convert it to a regular layer.)

There's one more step to go through before your type is part of the page. The type must be rasterized before you can apply the full range of filters to it. (You can apply warps and styles to the layer before it's rasterized.) Before type is rasterized, it's as if it were placed on a separate layer but not stuck down. Rasterizing , in effect, sticks the type to its layer. After the type is rasterized, you can't go back and edit it again. To rasterize type, select the type layer, and choose Layer Rasterize. You can rasterize type layers one at a time or do all the layers at once. Or you can simply flatten the image, if youre sure that you are finished making changes to the wording.

After you place the type on the screen, you can have some fun with it. Apply filters to your heart's content. Pour paint into selected letters . Select the type and distort it. Figure 17.7 shows just a few of the things you can do.

Figure 17.7. Filtered, distressed, and distorted type.

Fat Faces Are Good

Filters are most successful on bold type. Thin, delicate letters tend to get lost. If you can't read the type, it's not saying anything.