How to Add Text to a Picture With Photoshop

Captions? Thought balloons? Random words scattered over a picture? You're the artist. One way of adding words to an image is to use Photoshop, a popular graphics program.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Adobe Photoshop

1. Start Photoshop. From the File menu, select Open.
2. Locate the image you want to edit and double-click it or select Open.
3. Click the Text tool on the toolbar. The Text tool is represented by an uppercase T.
4. Click the uppermost of the two squares at the bottom of the box. The top square represents the foreground color; this will be the color of your text.
5. Choose the desired color for the text from the palette and select OK.
6. Click the picture where the text will be placed. A dialog box opens.
7. Select the font name, size, style and alignment from the choices listed. Click in the white box and begin typing your text. Click OK when finished.
8. Move the text by holding down the left mouse button on any selected area (surrounded by the selection line, which looks like marching ants) and dragging the text to its position.
9. Delete the text by pressing the Delete button on your keyboard or selecting Clear from the Edit menu.
10. Save the completed picture by selecting Save or Save As from the File menu.

Tips & Warnings

• If the font and font size do not show up in the dialog box, make sure the Font and Font Size boxes at the bottom of the dialog box are checked.
• Use a contrasting color for the text so that it stands out from the picture. For example, use white, yellow or other light colors for darker pictures; use black, blue or other dark colors for lighter pictures.
• Save your changed picture under a different name, such as textimage.jpg, to avoid losing the original.
• Click the vertical alignment option to vertically align the text on the picture.
• Obtain permission before using any unlicensed or copyrighted clip art.
• Do not use images from another Web page without permission from the owner of the site.