Photoshop Tips - Get your Image To Work

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Photoshop Tips - Get your Image To Work

Sometimes, when it comes to getting a picture to convey a particular emotion, or augmenting the theme of the background you juxtapose it against, nothing works quite as well as a few choice words. These could either be in the form of a quirky caption, or an insightful banner, or just about anything that adds to the significance of the picture in terms of the context you want to present it in. However, many photographers and editors have shied away from 'tagging' their images for years, for fear of their pieces of art turning into tacky caricatures, by merely adding a not-so-impressive effect that detracts from their image's artistic value. In recent times, the revolution called Photoshop has literally swept these cynics of their feet, offering an array of features that would have otherwise been considered impossible to attain with more conventional digital photo-editing softwares.

With Photoshop, captioning your images is no longer restricted to plastering a few lines of text across them. Instead, you can blend the text in and have it merge with the image, so that what you have as a final product is a harmonious confluence of text and image, and not two separate entities. Photoshop uses a ground-breaking technique called Anti-Aliasing, to attain this effect. Anti-Aliasing works with the pixels of the text you type in, partially filling in the edges to keep them from standing out. You can also choose how sharp or smooth your image appears, by selecting the most appropriate alternative from the array that Photoshop allows you. 'Strong', for instance would make the text appear heavier than the rest of the image while 'Sharp' would define the edges, while also making sure that they are in-sync with the background.

If you are working with very small text that is below the font size of 10 or 12 points, then as Photoshop specialists recommend, steer away from using Anti-Aliasing by setting the preference to 'None'. This keeps the text from being modified inconsistently, a factor that comes into play when working with images of a very small size, or of a low resolution. The 'smooth' and the 'sharp' alternatives live up to their name with the effects they bring about, but if you are looking for something in between, try the 'Crisp' option which, as the name suggests, makes your text appear decisive. To work with Anti-Aliasing, choose the option you intend to work with from the menu, which you will find in the 'Type' layer segment of the Layer Palette. You can move to this menu either by selecting it from the 'Options' bar, or from the 'Character Palette'.

To work with the 'Type' tool, you first need to bring it to the 'Options' bar. You can do this by hitting the letter 'T' and then choose the options as per the effect you are looking to create. Of all the options that the bar offers, the first two are to create a Type Mask or a Type Layer. You can base your preference on what you are more comfortable working with. For large bodies of text which may be difficult to fit in at the first instance, you can create a Type Layer, click and size a rectangular or square box and create a text column, which you can fit into the portion of the segment you want to feature the text in. when typing directly on the image, watch out for the I-beam on the image, the small horizontal line across which is the baseline for your text. Paying attention to this baseline allows you more precision even as you work on the image, thus saving a lot of time and effort on resizing after the damage has been done!

With Photoshop, you always have the option of previewing your text to check for font and style compatibility, even before you actually begin to type in the content. However, if you think you need to see the final effect to make your decision, you also have the alternative of typing your text in, highlighting it and then modifying the finer nuances. Coloring your text is another ballgame altogether. With Photoshop, you can not only fine-tune your color choice with every individual character, but also multi-hue your text while using only a single layer. While the Color-Picker is bound to spoil you for choice, you can also pick colors off your image by moving your cursor to the color you want to emulate, while keeping the Color Picker window open.

Once you added your text and granted it all the enhancements you could think of, you may want to take a minute to gloat over your accomplishment. To do this, exit the type mode with the 'Enter' key on the 'Numeric Keypad'. You can also exit the 'Typing mode' by selecting any other tool in the toolbox or clicking on the checkmark in the Options bar. And if you still aren't satisfied with the text you've added, you can re-enter the Editing mode by double-clicking on the 'T' icon in the thumbnail area of the Layers Palette. For a quick-fix job where you just want to resize the text or move it around, remember to hold down the 'Shift' key while dragging the text to adhere to the proportions. Not doing so will lead to your text becoming taller or wider than it originally was and if that's what you're looking for, proceed the same way you would with the exception of holding down the 'Shift' key.

As Photoshop continues to advance and develop, it also expands in the opportunities it offers photography enthusiasts of every level of skill from beginners who are exploring new avenues to experts who seek challenge to rein their creativity. Learning your way about this software can seem an uphill task, in view of the expansive features that it boasts of, and all the possibilities it opens new doors to. If you haven't begun already, master Photoshop today and let your ingenuity startle you with the heights it soars to!

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