All About the Wordplay: A Text Tutorial
In an idle moment - by which I mean, at a time when I actually have many things I ought to be doing, none of which appeals - I decided to put together some thoughts on text in icons. I'm working with Photoshop, specifically PS CS (on a Mac), but I think by and large the details will work for any version of Photoshop, and the principles are true whichever program you use. I'm trying to do two things here:
1 Give an idea of how to achieve particular effects
2 Offer ideas on how to vary your use of text
Unlike my recent very terse colouring demo, this has turned out rather wordy, and with quite a few illustrative examples, so get yourself a coffee before you settle in.
Note: the icons I use to illustrate this tutorial were all made by me, because it would be a hell of a cheek to use other people's work. Now, I'm not going to stop every five minutes to say where I got an effect from (most of them aren't that complicated anyway), but if you want to find out, ask me. Many of the icons are to be found in my Userpics, with appropriate credits - otherwise, if you see something and want to know where I got it, please ask.
The Basics - creating your text and getting it to look right
You're making an icon, yes? so the first thing you need to be sure of is that your 100x100 image is set to 72 pixels/inch. (Check the Image Size by going to Image>Image Size... and look in the box labelled Resolution.) Now that you know this, you too can sneer at future posters to this community who ask why their fonts are all the wrong size.
Because, you see, if your pixels/inch setting is something else, you will find Odd Things happen to your text. It'll be the wrong size, you'll be frustrated, there'll be tears and swearing and you may end up with an expensive broken keyboard (or, posting a question to icon_tutorial and passing on the aggravation). Don't go there.
So, you have your image all ready the way you want it. And you've decided what to say on it.
An Aside: okay, actually finding the right thing to say on an icon is probably the hardest thing of all. If you're lucky, the image you're using to make the icon simply leaps up at you and says "I must be iconned with the text Hello Sailor/meep!/antithetical... or whatever." But most of the time you're not that lucky. I can only recommend a wide vocabulary, lots of thought, and familiarity with useful quotes. Song lyrics are surprisingly handy, common phrases can be given a neat twist by juxtaposition with the right image, etc. Ultimately, though, you have to work this out for yourself.
The simplest way to do this, is:
a) Use the eyedropper tool from your Tools palette and pick out a colour from your icon. This is the easiest way to ensure that your text colour will not clash horribly with the rest of the image. Or you may want to type in black or white, which you can select directly from the Swatches palette. A quick shortcut for black/white is: next to your Foreground/Background colour squares on the Tools palette, there's a tiny image of two squares, black on white. Click that and you return your Foreground/Background colours to black and white. Don't forget that if you need to keep one of your colours on the palette, this is a bad idea and you'll need to select from Swatches, or click on the Foreground Colour box and pick your colour from the dialog box.)
b) select your Text tool (the T in the Tools palette). Position the cursor where you want it, and type. The text will appear on a new layer (indicated on the Layers palette with a T).
Incidentally, why did I recommend you select the Foreground Colour before the Text tool? Because the Text tool will use the Foreground Colour that was there when you chose the Text tool. You can, of course, change the text colour (see below) but it's a bit bewildering when you've changed the Foreground Colour and the text doesn't change colour. Which it won't.
Simple?
Well, yes. But. Details, details.
Whenever you are adding text to your icon, open the Character palette (from the Windows menu). It's handy, and almost everything's there.
So, let's go back up a bit, to before the 'type your text' stage. First, select your font. The topmost box in the Character palette is the font selection, so go through until you find one you think will do. It isn't crucial to get this right first time, but it will help you a lot if you have a reasonable idea of what you have in the way of fonts.
Another Aside: On the Selection of Fonts. It's difficult to lay down rules about which font works for which icon, because it depends on the look of the icon *and* on what you have to say. Sometimes you want a 'transparent' font, something plain, simple and legible, so that the viewer's focus is on what is said more than on how it looks. Sometimes the font will enhance the content. Look at other people's icons - note when the use of a fancy font adds the perfect finishing touch, and also note when it actually makes the whole thing look messy, or illegible. Both can happen.
I like to think this icon shows how the right font can enhance the right phrase.
#1
Sorry about the crappy quality. Ahem.
Yet Another Aside: making it easy on yourself. Sadly, my version of Photoshop does not display the fonts in their own typefaces. Yours is the same? I recommend making a bunch of reference documents which display the fonts in their own typefaces. Mine are All Fonts, then divided into Serifed, Sans serifed, Calligraphic and Otherwise Decorative. *Very* useful. It's a lot quicker than going through everything on your list to see which is which. (There is at least one program which will manage the fonts and make them display nicely, I know, but you'll have to seek elsewhere for details as I don't have it.)
Take a guess at the size you want (the box immediately below font selection). If in doubt, start with 12 and see how it looks.
For the moment, this will do. So type your text. Maybe it's just one word.
If you're lucky, you will realise after typing your word that you have the right font and the right size. However, you probably need to make adjustments.
What will you need to do?
If you'd like to try a different font,
- make sure you have selected the correct text layer (on your Layers palette, which should always be open when you're working on something)
- position your cursor within the text, and click*, then select the whole word/phrase
- select a different font in your Character palette
Unfortunately, you'll need to deselect the text in order to get a clear look at what you've now got. Repeat process until you are happy.
If you aren't sure which version you prefer, try this: duplicate the Text layer. (Neatest way to do this is by selecting its thumbnail on the Layers palette, and dragging it down to the little tiny square with the turned-up corner, at the bottom of the palette next to the trash symbol.) You now have two identical layers, so you can hide one, and change the font on the other. If you're trying to decide between two fonts, you can just switch visibility (the eye symbol) until you are sure which you prefer. Drag the unwanted text layer into the little trash symbol to get rid of it.
* Sometimes Photoshop will create another text layer instead of working in the one you intended. I think it's to do with not clicking in exactly the right place... positioning your cursor in the middle of the text, rather than at the beginning, will help avoid this. But if you find you are not managing to make changes, it's probably because you have acquired a new, blank Text layer. It's rather tiresome.
Same thing applies to font size. Change it until your text looks right.
And then, you may find that the font, while the right size, looks a bit squashed or a bit spaced out. With the text selected, go to the box on the Characters palette labelled AV with a double-sided arrow underneath the letters. (If you hover over it you should get a label saying 'Set the tracking for the selected characters'.) If your characters are too squashed, pick a setting below the 0, if they are too far apart, pick a (negative) setting above the 0. Repeat until satisfied. I can't tell you what setting is appropriate for which font, as there are too many fonts, and sizes. Essentially, you just need to make the thing legible.
[Oh, Yet Another Aside - for Tiny Text, you need a font size of 2 or possibly 3 points (you'll have to type this into the box yourself, as the default settings only go down to 6) and a Tracking setting of probably 200.]
Then, there's Anti-Aliasing. The box in the bottom right hand corner of the Characters palette has two lower case a's next to it. The settings in that box are None, Sharp, Crisp, Strong, Smooth. 'None' is not recommended except for bitmap fonts, when it is necessary; but only you can decide which of the a/a effects is the right one for your text on this particular icon. Try them all out, and see how they look. You will probably end up sticking with one effect as your default, but you need to experiment a bit first to see which one it'll be. If your text still looks a bit iffy, it may be best to try a different font - there are lots of varieties of basic serifed fonts, for example, and some will look better than others.
While you're about it: you may want the text bolder, or italicised - if the font you've chosen has these options, the box next to the font selection box will show them (eg Regular, Italic, Bold). However, many fonts don't have those options, in which case you can apply a faux bold or italic on the Character palette. There is a line of Ts in various styles: Bold, Italic, All Caps, Small Caps, Superscript, Subscript, Underline, Strikethrough. Select the text, then press the button(s). These aren't as good as having properly specified Bold, etc, versions of the font, but they'll do.
A method of increasing the impact of your text without using any kind of Bold, is to duplicate the text layer. Set on Normal, the new layer will effectively embolden the text, but you could try setting the new layer to Screen (to brighten) or Multiply (to darken), and see whether you like the result.
Oh, and if you decide to change the colour, now's your chance. Select the text, and you'll notice there is a coloured box in the Character palette which is the colour of your text. Click on it, and you'll get a Color Picker palette and can click to select your new colour in the usual way. Perhaps you need a lighter or darker version of the colour you had selected, or perhaps you want something radically different. Up to you. An alternative way to change the colour is to change the Foreground Color in your Tools palette (handy if you've forgotten to select a colour with the Eyedropper tool), select the text, click on the Foreground Color square, and when you are shown a colour selection, click on Okay straight away.
Right. So, you're happy with the way the text looks. Phew. And don't worry: this may seem complicated if you're doing it for more or less the first time, but it will soon be something you do automatically and without thinking of it as a complicated process.
But - woe! Your carefully crafted word is not really in the right place on the icon, what with the size changing and the tracking adjustments and all.
Use the Move tool (top right on the Tools palette) to select your text. Make sure that your cursor is showing you an arrowhead with a cross (like a plus sign with an arrowhead on each arm), and use it to move your text to exactly the right place.
There you go. Basic text.
A few examples of very simple text:
#2
#3
#4
#5
Hmm. Obviously I have a Thing for hands.
As for the position of the text, it's up to you to see what works. You may want a simple 'label', like the ones above. But sometimes, the words fit nicely within the image:
#6
or, by positioning the text across a part of the image, you actually emphasize the picture.
#7
I positioned the text like freckles... leastways, that's what I intended.
Bear in mind - you don't always need to do something fancy with the text. More often than not, your text just needs to be in the right font, size and colour, and positioned in a good place. All of which you will have to decide for yourself.
However, if you want to get fancier, please read on.
Okay. That was the really, really basic stuff, and most of the people on icon_tutorials already knew how to create text. So from now on, I'm going to suggest ideas on what to do with your text to make it more interesting.
Incidentally, I should be delighted if other users would add to the collection of ideas, in comments - or, if you have a better method for a procedure than I've described, please mention it. I'm certainly not the LJ expert on Doing Text In Photoshop, and I like to learn.
Anyway. Right. Onward.
Positioning Options
You can set your text as a 'label' but sideways:
#8
To have your text writing along the side of the icon, I find it simplest to go to Image>Rotate Canvas, and rotate by 90 degrees, usually clockwise. Type the text as usual, then rotate the image back. (You can also use the Move tool to rotate the typed text by 90 degrees - I just find rotating the whole icon suits me better.)
If you want your text writing downwards, select the Text tool and you'll find at the top left of the screen a T with two arrows, one vertical, one horizontal. Click that, and your text will type down the screen rather than across.
#9
The Move tool is a handy little thing, and does more than just move your text around.
For instance, you can use it to scale the text, by pulling at one of the selection box corners when you have a little double-sided diagonal arrow showing at your cursor. Hold Caps down to keep it in proportion. (I prefer to resize the text using the Text tool, but this may come in handy on occasion.)
More interestingly, you can stretch (or squash) your text in one dimension - a simple way to make the letters bigger but not wider. Pull up or down on one of the centre 'handles' of the selection box. Of course, you can stretch the letters sideways too, but I have so far found the height-increasing option handiest.
As well as moving your piece(s) of text around the screen, you can angle them differently. Select the text with the Move tool, and move your cursor at the corner until you get a little double-headed curved arrow showing; this means you can rotate the text. Another option is to Skew the text (Edit>Transform>Skew, select one corner of the selection box, and move it sideways). See how it slants.
You can even get clever and turn the text back to front. For this icon, I picked up one end of the selection box and moved it until the text was entirely reversed. Quite pleased with that one, though I have a suspicion there may be another way to achieve it.
#10
You can also use the Perspective option on the Move tool, but you'll have to Rasterize the text first (Layer>Rasterize>Type). Can be fun, though.
#11
I, uh, may also have a Thing for Lance Bass. Tell no-one.
Warp the text:
You have probably discovered the tool that transforms text into a different shape: it's Warp Text, and is on the top menu bar, a slanted T with a little arrow-ended arc underneath it. Select your text and click on that T for a menu giving a variety of shapes into which you can put your text. Play with the sliders. You know it makes sense.
#12
In this example I used the Warp Text tool (Flag) to get the floaty shape, including changing the Vertical setting to get the perspective effect, then rotated it sideways somewhat.
To go quite a lot wilder, how about distorting your text in a new way? Here, I typed my text out, then rasterized it (Layer>Rasterize>Text), and applied Filter>Distort>Wave, with the amplitude well down. The Distort filters are worth exploring.
#13
Nope, it ain't really legible - but you know what it says, right?
Another useful and cunning technique is to write your text along a Path. I managed these icons, with a bit of a struggle, but have not yet mastered Paths so I don't propose to make a hash of explaining them. The option exists, however, and is very flexible.
#14
#15
Making the text stand out
When you have used a text colour that is also part of the icon, there's a danger that the text won't stand out sufficiently. There are various ways to deal with this.
a) Really simple: create a new Layer just below the text layer. Using a soft-edged brush on a low % opacity, stroke a lighter/darker colour behind your text, just until it is visible.
#16
b) Use a shaped brush. Some people make brushes specifically for 'framing' text, which might be boxes or pieces of tape or something more fanciful. It's probably best if you go into your icon with this idea in your head so that it is a specific part of the design, rather than thinking Oops, can't read the words, and adding a box as an afterthought.
c) Similarly, you can include a single-colour stripe behind your text (as I did with the 'Horticulturalist', example #8 above). Create a new layer, use the Marquee tool to select a long, thin rectangle (all the way across the icon is good) and fill it with the colour of your choice. Or, hell, get fancy and fill it with a gradient. You'll probably want your actual text to be black or white.
d) Shadowed type. If you want a drop shadow to your type, go to Layer>Layer Style>Drop Shadow. Play around with the settings a bit so that you can see what happens:
- Distance shadow appears to be below type, so put in a higher number and you can have the text 'floating' high and separate from the shadow. If the number is 0 you effectively get an outline to your text.
- Spread, not surprisingly, affects how big the shadow effect is
- Size does too, in that a setting of 0 will make your drop shadow the same size as the text, and very crisp; a higher setting will get bigger and fuzzier.
You can also play with the angle wheel to get the shadow falling in a different place, although the default is set to the position you're most likely to want it.
e) An alternative method for shadowed type
I quite like doing this, myself. When you're satisfied with the text size, shape and positioning, duplicate the text layer. Change the colour of one of the layers to, well, whatever. With the move tool, adjust the positioning of one layer by, oh, maybe one arrowclick down, one arrowclick right. With large text, you can afford to move the shadow layer by a larger amount. Ensure you have the right text layer on top - I think it looks best with a light layer above a darker one, but that's not an absolute rule.
Hmm - okay, so the first example is not materially different from using the Drop Shadow.
f) Outlining
#17
Easy, this one (though admittedly the icon is very dull indeed) - select your text layer, go to Layer>Layer Style>Stroke. Select your colour and the thickness of the stroke. This one's a thickness of 1, I'm not wild about great heavy outlines, but it depends what you're looking for. If you want a thick outline for your letters, it's a good idea to space them out, using the Tracking box on the Character palette.
Changing colours within the type
I like this method:
duplicate the type layer, and change the colour of one of the layers.
Add a layer mask to whichever layer is to be uppermost (click on the little camera-shaped icon at the bottom of the layers palette) and mask part of the text so that the writing shows through in the other colour.
#18
#19
Gradient in the type
Type your text, go to Layer>Layer style>Gradient Overlay. This will allow you to fade the colour in/out, which can be cool. Best from top or bottom, unless your text consists of one large letter. Like this.
Or, you can get fancy and add a gradient from the Photoshop defaults, or one that you've acquired from elsewhere. Same deal, Layer>Layer Style>Gradient Overlay, but this time use the drop-down arrow on the end of the Gradient box, and you'll get to your normal gradient selection and can choose in the usual way. See?
This one uses the same gradient as the one above, but I've changed the angle on the wheel. You can click back onto the Gradient Overlay dialog box after you select your gradient, and fiddle until it looks good. (I kinda like the way it highlights DIE here. Ahem.)
For this one, I did something different again. I typed in the text and defined it as a brush (Edit>Define Brush Preset...). Deleted the text layer, then filled a layer with the desired gradient, a rainbow-type spectrum (same as the preceding two). Then added a layer mask to the rainbow layer, filled the mask layer with black (ie deleting all) and used my newly-made text brush (on white) to repaint the rainbow. Effective, but a bit longwinded. I suspect there's a quicker way to achieve this, if someone would like to comment with details I'll be most interested.
On the subject of Gradients, it's worth experimenting with where you put your text layer. Moving it to below a gradient layer can make for interesting effects. Keep your mind open.
That technique of making your text into a text brush comes in handy at other times. I used it here; although you'll assuredly have seen other examples in this style.
#20
Create a new layer, and add a bar of solid colour, probably at a low opacity so that it is translucent to some extent (though, of course, you can reduce the Layer opacity instead). Make the text into a text brush, as defined above - and use it as an eraser brush. Or, if you aren't totally confident in your ability to place the text in the right spot first time (!), create a layer mask, and use your new Brush to mask the colour bar.
I also like painting onto text here and there. In this icon, the words 'sunshine' and 'smile' both use the alternative method for shadowed type which I described above, using two fairly similar shades of orange. Then in a new layer I used a soft brush to paint yellow highlighting over part of the text, and set the blend mode to Overlay.
#21
Sundry ideas I couldn't classify anywhere else
Opacity Layer % does not have to be set to 100% for text. You can make it more discreet by reducing the layer opacity (on the Layers palette). If you have a bunch of text, type each new line on a new Text layer, and set the layers to different opacities. This is a neat way to emphasize the most important words. You've probably seen better examples than this:
#22
In my defence, it is from a picture of JC pretending he's fishing.
Leading (a typographical phrase!). If you have a phrase rather than a single word, it will quite probably be handy to have different pieces on different layers, so that you can adjust the positioning to exactly what you want. So type the first word, then click on the layer below the text layer, reposition your cursor and type the next word. Repeat until done. That's what I did in the example above.
However, you may want the text as a coherent piece, in which case you need to pay attention to the vertical spacing of the lines (ie the leading, pronounced ledding). This can be adjusted on your Character palette: next to the Type size box there's one with two As, one above the other. If you want your lines of type very close together, adjust the leading so that the figure is smaller than the font size you have specified. Play around until you have what you want.
On this icon, I tried to mimic the effect of a rather old typewriter by selecting some of the letters and shifting them slightly out of place. And also partially erasing some of them (use a mask, and have your brush on partial opacity, or else rasterize the text and erase on partial opacity).
#23
Write it yourself! Occasionally I don't use the Text tool for text, but write it myself. (It does help to have a graphics tablet with pen.) Do not attempt this at 100x100, it's too frustrating. Create a bigger square document, and reduce size to 100x100 when you've got what you want, and duplicate your layer onto your icon.
#24
#25
#26
You have to look quite carefully for the text in the middle one.
Use text as a texture - type it, reduce the opacity, play with effects, and then mask the text so that it appears to be on the wall behind the subject.
#26
#27
Before I finish, I want to say it again - just because you *can* do fancy things with text, doesn't mean you *should*. I reckon that 90% of the time, the text ought to look simple. I don't mean it necessarily *is* simple, and I don't mean you don't take care to get the details right, I just mean it shouldn't be obviously CLEVER.) The idea is not to produce an icon that screams *OMGlookatMeI'mSOclever*, but an icon that says what you want it to say in the best way you know how. Right?
Okay, I'm done. So - tell me what I've forgotten!
1 Give an idea of how to achieve particular effects
2 Offer ideas on how to vary your use of text
Unlike my recent very terse colouring demo, this has turned out rather wordy, and with quite a few illustrative examples, so get yourself a coffee before you settle in.
Note: the icons I use to illustrate this tutorial were all made by me, because it would be a hell of a cheek to use other people's work. Now, I'm not going to stop every five minutes to say where I got an effect from (most of them aren't that complicated anyway), but if you want to find out, ask me. Many of the icons are to be found in my Userpics, with appropriate credits - otherwise, if you see something and want to know where I got it, please ask.
The Basics - creating your text and getting it to look right
You're making an icon, yes? so the first thing you need to be sure of is that your 100x100 image is set to 72 pixels/inch. (Check the Image Size by going to Image>Image Size... and look in the box labelled Resolution.) Now that you know this, you too can sneer at future posters to this community who ask why their fonts are all the wrong size.
Because, you see, if your pixels/inch setting is something else, you will find Odd Things happen to your text. It'll be the wrong size, you'll be frustrated, there'll be tears and swearing and you may end up with an expensive broken keyboard (or, posting a question to icon_tutorial and passing on the aggravation). Don't go there.
So, you have your image all ready the way you want it. And you've decided what to say on it.
An Aside: okay, actually finding the right thing to say on an icon is probably the hardest thing of all. If you're lucky, the image you're using to make the icon simply leaps up at you and says "I must be iconned with the text Hello Sailor/meep!/antithetical... or whatever." But most of the time you're not that lucky. I can only recommend a wide vocabulary, lots of thought, and familiarity with useful quotes. Song lyrics are surprisingly handy, common phrases can be given a neat twist by juxtaposition with the right image, etc. Ultimately, though, you have to work this out for yourself.
The simplest way to do this, is:
a) Use the eyedropper tool from your Tools palette and pick out a colour from your icon. This is the easiest way to ensure that your text colour will not clash horribly with the rest of the image. Or you may want to type in black or white, which you can select directly from the Swatches palette. A quick shortcut for black/white is: next to your Foreground/Background colour squares on the Tools palette, there's a tiny image of two squares, black on white. Click that and you return your Foreground/Background colours to black and white. Don't forget that if you need to keep one of your colours on the palette, this is a bad idea and you'll need to select from Swatches, or click on the Foreground Colour box and pick your colour from the dialog box.)
b) select your Text tool (the T in the Tools palette). Position the cursor where you want it, and type. The text will appear on a new layer (indicated on the Layers palette with a T).
Incidentally, why did I recommend you select the Foreground Colour before the Text tool? Because the Text tool will use the Foreground Colour that was there when you chose the Text tool. You can, of course, change the text colour (see below) but it's a bit bewildering when you've changed the Foreground Colour and the text doesn't change colour. Which it won't.
Simple?
Well, yes. But. Details, details.
Whenever you are adding text to your icon, open the Character palette (from the Windows menu). It's handy, and almost everything's there.
So, let's go back up a bit, to before the 'type your text' stage. First, select your font. The topmost box in the Character palette is the font selection, so go through until you find one you think will do. It isn't crucial to get this right first time, but it will help you a lot if you have a reasonable idea of what you have in the way of fonts.
Another Aside: On the Selection of Fonts. It's difficult to lay down rules about which font works for which icon, because it depends on the look of the icon *and* on what you have to say. Sometimes you want a 'transparent' font, something plain, simple and legible, so that the viewer's focus is on what is said more than on how it looks. Sometimes the font will enhance the content. Look at other people's icons - note when the use of a fancy font adds the perfect finishing touch, and also note when it actually makes the whole thing look messy, or illegible. Both can happen.
I like to think this icon shows how the right font can enhance the right phrase.
#1
Sorry about the crappy quality. Ahem.
Yet Another Aside: making it easy on yourself. Sadly, my version of Photoshop does not display the fonts in their own typefaces. Yours is the same? I recommend making a bunch of reference documents which display the fonts in their own typefaces. Mine are All Fonts, then divided into Serifed, Sans serifed, Calligraphic and Otherwise Decorative. *Very* useful. It's a lot quicker than going through everything on your list to see which is which. (There is at least one program which will manage the fonts and make them display nicely, I know, but you'll have to seek elsewhere for details as I don't have it.)
Take a guess at the size you want (the box immediately below font selection). If in doubt, start with 12 and see how it looks.
For the moment, this will do. So type your text. Maybe it's just one word.
If you're lucky, you will realise after typing your word that you have the right font and the right size. However, you probably need to make adjustments.
What will you need to do?
If you'd like to try a different font,
- make sure you have selected the correct text layer (on your Layers palette, which should always be open when you're working on something)
- position your cursor within the text, and click*, then select the whole word/phrase
- select a different font in your Character palette
Unfortunately, you'll need to deselect the text in order to get a clear look at what you've now got. Repeat process until you are happy.
If you aren't sure which version you prefer, try this: duplicate the Text layer. (Neatest way to do this is by selecting its thumbnail on the Layers palette, and dragging it down to the little tiny square with the turned-up corner, at the bottom of the palette next to the trash symbol.) You now have two identical layers, so you can hide one, and change the font on the other. If you're trying to decide between two fonts, you can just switch visibility (the eye symbol) until you are sure which you prefer. Drag the unwanted text layer into the little trash symbol to get rid of it.
* Sometimes Photoshop will create another text layer instead of working in the one you intended. I think it's to do with not clicking in exactly the right place... positioning your cursor in the middle of the text, rather than at the beginning, will help avoid this. But if you find you are not managing to make changes, it's probably because you have acquired a new, blank Text layer. It's rather tiresome.
Same thing applies to font size. Change it until your text looks right.
And then, you may find that the font, while the right size, looks a bit squashed or a bit spaced out. With the text selected, go to the box on the Characters palette labelled AV with a double-sided arrow underneath the letters. (If you hover over it you should get a label saying 'Set the tracking for the selected characters'.) If your characters are too squashed, pick a setting below the 0, if they are too far apart, pick a (negative) setting above the 0. Repeat until satisfied. I can't tell you what setting is appropriate for which font, as there are too many fonts, and sizes. Essentially, you just need to make the thing legible.
[Oh, Yet Another Aside - for Tiny Text, you need a font size of 2 or possibly 3 points (you'll have to type this into the box yourself, as the default settings only go down to 6) and a Tracking setting of probably 200.]
Then, there's Anti-Aliasing. The box in the bottom right hand corner of the Characters palette has two lower case a's next to it. The settings in that box are None, Sharp, Crisp, Strong, Smooth. 'None' is not recommended except for bitmap fonts, when it is necessary; but only you can decide which of the a/a effects is the right one for your text on this particular icon. Try them all out, and see how they look. You will probably end up sticking with one effect as your default, but you need to experiment a bit first to see which one it'll be. If your text still looks a bit iffy, it may be best to try a different font - there are lots of varieties of basic serifed fonts, for example, and some will look better than others.
While you're about it: you may want the text bolder, or italicised - if the font you've chosen has these options, the box next to the font selection box will show them (eg Regular, Italic, Bold). However, many fonts don't have those options, in which case you can apply a faux bold or italic on the Character palette. There is a line of Ts in various styles: Bold, Italic, All Caps, Small Caps, Superscript, Subscript, Underline, Strikethrough. Select the text, then press the button(s). These aren't as good as having properly specified Bold, etc, versions of the font, but they'll do.
A method of increasing the impact of your text without using any kind of Bold, is to duplicate the text layer. Set on Normal, the new layer will effectively embolden the text, but you could try setting the new layer to Screen (to brighten) or Multiply (to darken), and see whether you like the result.
Oh, and if you decide to change the colour, now's your chance. Select the text, and you'll notice there is a coloured box in the Character palette which is the colour of your text. Click on it, and you'll get a Color Picker palette and can click to select your new colour in the usual way. Perhaps you need a lighter or darker version of the colour you had selected, or perhaps you want something radically different. Up to you. An alternative way to change the colour is to change the Foreground Color in your Tools palette (handy if you've forgotten to select a colour with the Eyedropper tool), select the text, click on the Foreground Color square, and when you are shown a colour selection, click on Okay straight away.
Right. So, you're happy with the way the text looks. Phew. And don't worry: this may seem complicated if you're doing it for more or less the first time, but it will soon be something you do automatically and without thinking of it as a complicated process.
But - woe! Your carefully crafted word is not really in the right place on the icon, what with the size changing and the tracking adjustments and all.
Use the Move tool (top right on the Tools palette) to select your text. Make sure that your cursor is showing you an arrowhead with a cross (like a plus sign with an arrowhead on each arm), and use it to move your text to exactly the right place.
There you go. Basic text.
A few examples of very simple text:
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#5
Hmm. Obviously I have a Thing for hands.
As for the position of the text, it's up to you to see what works. You may want a simple 'label', like the ones above. But sometimes, the words fit nicely within the image:
#6
or, by positioning the text across a part of the image, you actually emphasize the picture.
#7
I positioned the text like freckles... leastways, that's what I intended.
Bear in mind - you don't always need to do something fancy with the text. More often than not, your text just needs to be in the right font, size and colour, and positioned in a good place. All of which you will have to decide for yourself.
However, if you want to get fancier, please read on.
Okay. That was the really, really basic stuff, and most of the people on icon_tutorials already knew how to create text. So from now on, I'm going to suggest ideas on what to do with your text to make it more interesting.
Incidentally, I should be delighted if other users would add to the collection of ideas, in comments - or, if you have a better method for a procedure than I've described, please mention it. I'm certainly not the LJ expert on Doing Text In Photoshop, and I like to learn.
Anyway. Right. Onward.
Positioning Options
You can set your text as a 'label' but sideways:
#8
To have your text writing along the side of the icon, I find it simplest to go to Image>Rotate Canvas, and rotate by 90 degrees, usually clockwise. Type the text as usual, then rotate the image back. (You can also use the Move tool to rotate the typed text by 90 degrees - I just find rotating the whole icon suits me better.)
If you want your text writing downwards, select the Text tool and you'll find at the top left of the screen a T with two arrows, one vertical, one horizontal. Click that, and your text will type down the screen rather than across.
#9
The Move tool is a handy little thing, and does more than just move your text around.
For instance, you can use it to scale the text, by pulling at one of the selection box corners when you have a little double-sided diagonal arrow showing at your cursor. Hold Caps down to keep it in proportion. (I prefer to resize the text using the Text tool, but this may come in handy on occasion.)
More interestingly, you can stretch (or squash) your text in one dimension - a simple way to make the letters bigger but not wider. Pull up or down on one of the centre 'handles' of the selection box. Of course, you can stretch the letters sideways too, but I have so far found the height-increasing option handiest.
As well as moving your piece(s) of text around the screen, you can angle them differently. Select the text with the Move tool, and move your cursor at the corner until you get a little double-headed curved arrow showing; this means you can rotate the text. Another option is to Skew the text (Edit>Transform>Skew, select one corner of the selection box, and move it sideways). See how it slants.
You can even get clever and turn the text back to front. For this icon, I picked up one end of the selection box and moved it until the text was entirely reversed. Quite pleased with that one, though I have a suspicion there may be another way to achieve it.
#10
You can also use the Perspective option on the Move tool, but you'll have to Rasterize the text first (Layer>Rasterize>Type). Can be fun, though.
#11
I, uh, may also have a Thing for Lance Bass. Tell no-one.
Warp the text:
You have probably discovered the tool that transforms text into a different shape: it's Warp Text, and is on the top menu bar, a slanted T with a little arrow-ended arc underneath it. Select your text and click on that T for a menu giving a variety of shapes into which you can put your text. Play with the sliders. You know it makes sense.
#12
In this example I used the Warp Text tool (Flag) to get the floaty shape, including changing the Vertical setting to get the perspective effect, then rotated it sideways somewhat.
To go quite a lot wilder, how about distorting your text in a new way? Here, I typed my text out, then rasterized it (Layer>Rasterize>Text), and applied Filter>Distort>Wave, with the amplitude well down. The Distort filters are worth exploring.
#13
Nope, it ain't really legible - but you know what it says, right?
Another useful and cunning technique is to write your text along a Path. I managed these icons, with a bit of a struggle, but have not yet mastered Paths so I don't propose to make a hash of explaining them. The option exists, however, and is very flexible.
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Making the text stand out
When you have used a text colour that is also part of the icon, there's a danger that the text won't stand out sufficiently. There are various ways to deal with this.
a) Really simple: create a new Layer just below the text layer. Using a soft-edged brush on a low % opacity, stroke a lighter/darker colour behind your text, just until it is visible.
#16
b) Use a shaped brush. Some people make brushes specifically for 'framing' text, which might be boxes or pieces of tape or something more fanciful. It's probably best if you go into your icon with this idea in your head so that it is a specific part of the design, rather than thinking Oops, can't read the words, and adding a box as an afterthought.
c) Similarly, you can include a single-colour stripe behind your text (as I did with the 'Horticulturalist', example #8 above). Create a new layer, use the Marquee tool to select a long, thin rectangle (all the way across the icon is good) and fill it with the colour of your choice. Or, hell, get fancy and fill it with a gradient. You'll probably want your actual text to be black or white.
d) Shadowed type. If you want a drop shadow to your type, go to Layer>Layer Style>Drop Shadow. Play around with the settings a bit so that you can see what happens:
- Distance shadow appears to be below type, so put in a higher number and you can have the text 'floating' high and separate from the shadow. If the number is 0 you effectively get an outline to your text.
- Spread, not surprisingly, affects how big the shadow effect is
- Size does too, in that a setting of 0 will make your drop shadow the same size as the text, and very crisp; a higher setting will get bigger and fuzzier.
You can also play with the angle wheel to get the shadow falling in a different place, although the default is set to the position you're most likely to want it.
e) An alternative method for shadowed type
I quite like doing this, myself. When you're satisfied with the text size, shape and positioning, duplicate the text layer. Change the colour of one of the layers to, well, whatever. With the move tool, adjust the positioning of one layer by, oh, maybe one arrowclick down, one arrowclick right. With large text, you can afford to move the shadow layer by a larger amount. Ensure you have the right text layer on top - I think it looks best with a light layer above a darker one, but that's not an absolute rule.
Hmm - okay, so the first example is not materially different from using the Drop Shadow.
f) Outlining
#17
Easy, this one (though admittedly the icon is very dull indeed) - select your text layer, go to Layer>Layer Style>Stroke. Select your colour and the thickness of the stroke. This one's a thickness of 1, I'm not wild about great heavy outlines, but it depends what you're looking for. If you want a thick outline for your letters, it's a good idea to space them out, using the Tracking box on the Character palette.
Changing colours within the type
I like this method:
duplicate the type layer, and change the colour of one of the layers.
Add a layer mask to whichever layer is to be uppermost (click on the little camera-shaped icon at the bottom of the layers palette) and mask part of the text so that the writing shows through in the other colour.
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Gradient in the type
Type your text, go to Layer>Layer style>Gradient Overlay. This will allow you to fade the colour in/out, which can be cool. Best from top or bottom, unless your text consists of one large letter. Like this.
Or, you can get fancy and add a gradient from the Photoshop defaults, or one that you've acquired from elsewhere. Same deal, Layer>Layer Style>Gradient Overlay, but this time use the drop-down arrow on the end of the Gradient box, and you'll get to your normal gradient selection and can choose in the usual way. See?
This one uses the same gradient as the one above, but I've changed the angle on the wheel. You can click back onto the Gradient Overlay dialog box after you select your gradient, and fiddle until it looks good. (I kinda like the way it highlights DIE here. Ahem.)
For this one, I did something different again. I typed in the text and defined it as a brush (Edit>Define Brush Preset...). Deleted the text layer, then filled a layer with the desired gradient, a rainbow-type spectrum (same as the preceding two). Then added a layer mask to the rainbow layer, filled the mask layer with black (ie deleting all) and used my newly-made text brush (on white) to repaint the rainbow. Effective, but a bit longwinded. I suspect there's a quicker way to achieve this, if someone would like to comment with details I'll be most interested.
On the subject of Gradients, it's worth experimenting with where you put your text layer. Moving it to below a gradient layer can make for interesting effects. Keep your mind open.
That technique of making your text into a text brush comes in handy at other times. I used it here; although you'll assuredly have seen other examples in this style.
#20
Create a new layer, and add a bar of solid colour, probably at a low opacity so that it is translucent to some extent (though, of course, you can reduce the Layer opacity instead). Make the text into a text brush, as defined above - and use it as an eraser brush. Or, if you aren't totally confident in your ability to place the text in the right spot first time (!), create a layer mask, and use your new Brush to mask the colour bar.
I also like painting onto text here and there. In this icon, the words 'sunshine' and 'smile' both use the alternative method for shadowed type which I described above, using two fairly similar shades of orange. Then in a new layer I used a soft brush to paint yellow highlighting over part of the text, and set the blend mode to Overlay.
#21
Sundry ideas I couldn't classify anywhere else
Opacity Layer % does not have to be set to 100% for text. You can make it more discreet by reducing the layer opacity (on the Layers palette). If you have a bunch of text, type each new line on a new Text layer, and set the layers to different opacities. This is a neat way to emphasize the most important words. You've probably seen better examples than this:
#22
In my defence, it is from a picture of JC pretending he's fishing.
Leading (a typographical phrase!). If you have a phrase rather than a single word, it will quite probably be handy to have different pieces on different layers, so that you can adjust the positioning to exactly what you want. So type the first word, then click on the layer below the text layer, reposition your cursor and type the next word. Repeat until done. That's what I did in the example above.
However, you may want the text as a coherent piece, in which case you need to pay attention to the vertical spacing of the lines (ie the leading, pronounced ledding). This can be adjusted on your Character palette: next to the Type size box there's one with two As, one above the other. If you want your lines of type very close together, adjust the leading so that the figure is smaller than the font size you have specified. Play around until you have what you want.
On this icon, I tried to mimic the effect of a rather old typewriter by selecting some of the letters and shifting them slightly out of place. And also partially erasing some of them (use a mask, and have your brush on partial opacity, or else rasterize the text and erase on partial opacity).
#23
Write it yourself! Occasionally I don't use the Text tool for text, but write it myself. (It does help to have a graphics tablet with pen.) Do not attempt this at 100x100, it's too frustrating. Create a bigger square document, and reduce size to 100x100 when you've got what you want, and duplicate your layer onto your icon.
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You have to look quite carefully for the text in the middle one.
Use text as a texture - type it, reduce the opacity, play with effects, and then mask the text so that it appears to be on the wall behind the subject.
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#27
Before I finish, I want to say it again - just because you *can* do fancy things with text, doesn't mean you *should*. I reckon that 90% of the time, the text ought to look simple. I don't mean it necessarily *is* simple, and I don't mean you don't take care to get the details right, I just mean it shouldn't be obviously CLEVER.) The idea is not to produce an icon that screams *OMGlookatMeI'mSOclever*, but an icon that says what you want it to say in the best way you know how. Right?
Okay, I'm done. So - tell me what I've forgotten!