Ghosts!

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.

Photoshop relies on the principle of Anti-Aliasing, which literally blends the text in with its background, so that the final result of your editing efforts is not a scintillating image and a few well-thought over words but an image of which the text and the photograph are fundamental parts. Anti-Aliasing works on the pixels of your text, partially filling in the edges to have them merge with the image. And this remarkable tool also allows you to be flexible and discreet in the extent to which you use it. If you are looking for an effect that is well-blended and yet retains the distinctiveness of the text, the ‘Sharp’ option allows you just what you’re looking for, while the ‘Strong’ alternative makes the text heavier than the rest of the image.

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’.

A swift way to reach for the Type tool is with the letter ‘T’. This brings the Type Tool options to the Options bar, from where you can use the ones you want to work with. The first two buttons let you choose between creating a Type Mask, or a Type Layer, which you can, depending on what you’re more comfortable with. If you have a large amount of text you want to fit into your image, the best way to go about it is to create a Type Layer, click and drag a rectangle or square to size your text and fit it in the section of the image where you want the text to be featured. If you plan to type directly onto the document, you can save on a lot of time and effort by referring to the I-beam that appears on the image. The small horizontal line that cuts across the beam indicates the baseline, which you can use to align your text with the image, even as you’re working on it!

If you aren’t very certain about the font you want to use for your image, you can simply type it up and then highlight the text to switch between fonts and styles. To format individual segments of the text, you can drag them to the preview section and adjust the style and font until you arrive at an alternative that suits your image perfectly. Photoshop also allows you to vary the color of your text on a per character basis and even apply multiple colors to your text with the use of a single layer. You can either choose from the vast array of colors that the Color-Picker has to offer, or even pick one off the image itself! To do the latter, you can leave the color-picker window open and then move your cursor to the part of the image which has the color you are looking for.

After you’re through with working on your image and are ready to showcase it in all its creative glory, you can exit the ‘Type’ mode with the ‘Enter’ key on the Numeric keypad. Other ways to move out would be by clicking on any other tool in the toolbox, or the checkmark in the Options bar. For any oversights you want to correct, there is always the ‘T’ icon in the thumbnail section of the Layer’s Palette, double-clicking on which, you can go back to the ‘Editing’ mode once again. An easy way to resize or reposition the text is to simply click and drag it as per your preference while holding down the ‘Shift’ key. This prevents your text from getting distorted in relation to the proportions you set out with and if you aren’t too particular about the same, you can also stretch your text out, or flatten it by not using the ‘Shift’ key.

Photoshop has endless avenues for both amateur enthusiasts and professionals to explore. Although the learning curve can be steep and hard to grapple with, take your time with the software and be as creative as you can when using it. With a little practice and loads of determination, turning everyday plain-Jane images to digital masterpieces will be a forte you have firmly etched out for yourself!