Do you remember the days before sliced bread? Neither do we. Either way, in the photo editing world, adding text to a photo really is the greatest thing since….well, you know. Here’s how it’s done!
Type your text
To open your photo in the Editor, hover your mouse over Edit at the very top of the homepage. A dark grey bar with image storage options (Computer, My Hub, Facebook, or one of the options under More) will appear below it. Click one to open your image.
To add text, click the Text tab (“Tt” icon) in the editing panel. Choose a font, then click the Add Text button. Next, click the text box and type in those sweet, sweet words. Wanna quickly try out different fonts? First, highlight your text. Then, click through the different fonts to test them out. Thoughtful font-pairing will also make your design shine.
Pro tip: you can add your own fonts to get just the right effect you’re looking for.
Change text color
To change the color of your text, first make sure you’ve got it selected and you see the text box around it. In the Text palette, click a color in the color grid.
To match a color from your image, use the Eyedropper. With your text highlighted, click the solid rectangle to the right of the color picker. An eyedropper icon will appear; move it over the desired color in your design and click.
If you know the hex code of the color you want, you can type it in, above the color picker. (Hex codes are six-digit combos of letters and numbers that represent specific colors).
Add text effects
Still hungry for more? The text effects button in the Text palette has some stylish options to try out. Click the Effects button on the palette and choose an option from the drop-down list:
Drop Shadow
Drop Shadow casts a subtle shadow underneath your text. This effect makes your text pop off the page.
Knockout
Knockout cuts out an invisible outline of your text, leaving shadows and a transparent effect that blends in with your photo.
Inner Shadow
Want an inverted 3D effect? Inner shadow places a shadow on the inside of the text borders.
Curved Text
Go off the beaten path and write on a curve with the curve tool. Circles look great wearing words.
Perfecting text size
Let’s say you want your text to fill a specific area in your photo. To do that, drag the left and right edges into place. Then, use the Size slider to increase or decrease text size to perfection. Dragging the corner handles, the top, and the bottom of the text box will change the text size in proportion with the text box.
Holding the shift key while dragging the corners allows you to change stretch and squish text. If you want an exact font size, you can type it in, or select the size from the drop-down menu. To rotate text, click and drag the top handle above the text box.
Align text with grids
Alignment grids will help you get text placement just right. To use a grid, click on the Alignment button in the bottom toolbar, and customize your grid. If your grid has a center line, align the top handle with the centerline. If not, align your text inside the middle column of the grid.
