a thousand words.
A couple of people have asked me recently, so I decided to write up a little tutorial type thing about icon text.
First of all, the basics:
- If you're using a pixel font, don't use an anti-alias. Also note that most pixel fonts look good at once certain size. It varies from font to font, too. (For example, Silkscreen looks good at 8pt while Ernest looks good at 10.)
- If you're using *any* font other than a pixel font, you need an anti-alias. In PhotoShop 7 there are four choices: strong, smooth, sharp and crisp. Any of these will work, but I find that I'm most often using sharp or smooth, depending on the font.
- Always choose a color from your icon for the text color.
- Play around with blend modes to see what looks best. Most of the time, if you're using a light color for your font you'll want to use "screen" for blending and if you're using a dark color you'll want to use something like "multiply" or "linear burn." Of course if you're going for a more subtle text look you can reverse that.
- Not all fonts look good at all sizes. Some fonts look better at odd sizes and some at evens. Play around with size and with anti-alias until you've got something that looks clear and even.
Two basic walk-throughs.
Light text with drop-shadow
I'm not going to do a step-by-step on how I did the icon itself. We'll just assume that I did lots of stuff with layers and brushes and came up with this:
Next I added the text. The font is the very basic Times New Roman. (she's = 12 pt, bold, strong anti-alias - AFRAID = 12 pt, bold, strong - of the = 9pt, bold, strong - LIGHT = 12pt, bold, strong - in the = 9th, bold, strong - DARK = 14pt, bold, strong.)
Drop Shadow as follows:
- use a color darker than your text, but also from within the icon
- blend mode = multiply 100%
- distance = 1
- spread = 0
- size = 0
- all other settings at the default
The text in this is still a tad hard to read, though. So I went to the base image and used my blur tool underneath where the text sits.
That's pretty good now, but I'd still like the text to stand out a little more. So I added some colored boxes behind the text to make it "pop" a little more.
Darker text
Again, made the icon doing lots of stuff. It looks like this:
Added some text, blended at multiply. The font is Tahoma. (THE WAY = 11pt, bold, strong - WE WERE = 14pt, bold, strong)
Decent, but it's a bit hard to read "we". Again, I start by blurring the image under the text.
Next, I use the "dodge" tool to lighten Big's pants and Carrie's arm under the word "we" so it stands out a bit more.
Better, but I'd still like it lighter. I'll add a couple of boxes of color and blend it at "screen."
Now the text is very easily readable, but there are very visable corners from my boxes. I'll go in and blur them using the blur tool.
And that's that. Both finished icons are up for grabs, if anyone wishes to use them.
First of all, the basics:
- If you're using a pixel font, don't use an anti-alias. Also note that most pixel fonts look good at once certain size. It varies from font to font, too. (For example, Silkscreen looks good at 8pt while Ernest looks good at 10.)
- If you're using *any* font other than a pixel font, you need an anti-alias. In PhotoShop 7 there are four choices: strong, smooth, sharp and crisp. Any of these will work, but I find that I'm most often using sharp or smooth, depending on the font.
- Always choose a color from your icon for the text color.
- Play around with blend modes to see what looks best. Most of the time, if you're using a light color for your font you'll want to use "screen" for blending and if you're using a dark color you'll want to use something like "multiply" or "linear burn." Of course if you're going for a more subtle text look you can reverse that.
- Not all fonts look good at all sizes. Some fonts look better at odd sizes and some at evens. Play around with size and with anti-alias until you've got something that looks clear and even.
Two basic walk-throughs.
Light text with drop-shadow
I'm not going to do a step-by-step on how I did the icon itself. We'll just assume that I did lots of stuff with layers and brushes and came up with this:
Next I added the text. The font is the very basic Times New Roman. (she's = 12 pt, bold, strong anti-alias - AFRAID = 12 pt, bold, strong - of the = 9pt, bold, strong - LIGHT = 12pt, bold, strong - in the = 9th, bold, strong - DARK = 14pt, bold, strong.)
Drop Shadow as follows:
- use a color darker than your text, but also from within the icon
- blend mode = multiply 100%
- distance = 1
- spread = 0
- size = 0
- all other settings at the default
The text in this is still a tad hard to read, though. So I went to the base image and used my blur tool underneath where the text sits.
That's pretty good now, but I'd still like the text to stand out a little more. So I added some colored boxes behind the text to make it "pop" a little more.
Darker text
Again, made the icon doing lots of stuff. It looks like this:
Added some text, blended at multiply. The font is Tahoma. (THE WAY = 11pt, bold, strong - WE WERE = 14pt, bold, strong)
Decent, but it's a bit hard to read "we". Again, I start by blurring the image under the text.
Next, I use the "dodge" tool to lighten Big's pants and Carrie's arm under the word "we" so it stands out a bit more.
Better, but I'd still like it lighter. I'll add a couple of boxes of color and blend it at "screen."
Now the text is very easily readable, but there are very visable corners from my boxes. I'll go in and blur them using the blur tool.
And that's that. Both finished icons are up for grabs, if anyone wishes to use them.