Add text to your photos

Create editable text with flexible Type layers.

Published January 28, 2025

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00:01

Introduction

When you add text to an image in Photoshop CC it automatically appears on a special kind of layer called a type layer.

Text on a type layer remains editable so that you can always change its content or its appearance.

And it has smooth edges when printed, even if you make the text a lot bigger.

In this video we'll practice adding text to an image.

You can use this image from the downloadable practice files for this tutorial or an image of your own.

00:29

Creating text with the horizontal type tool

The tool you use most often to create text is the Horizontal Type tool.

You can select it here in the Tools panel.

Then go up to the Options bar and click on the Font menu.

Here you'll see a list of fonts that you can scroll through to choose one you like.

The list shows you a preview of what each font looks like.

Or if you know the font that you want you can just type it here in the font field.

I'll type Georgia.

And Photoshop CC shows you all available styles of that font.

I'll choose Georgia Bold.

If you don't have this font, choose a font of your own.

Next let's set the font size.

01:11

Choosing fonts, sizes, and text color

This menu shows you the font size in points by default.

By the way: The default size is very small on a large image like this.

If you ever enter type and you can't see it, that's probably why.

So just try again with a larger font size.

Here you can type in a font size if you know it or you can click this arrow and choose a font size from the drop-down menu.

I'll choose a large font size.

Let's use white for the text we're going to enter.

To set the font color go up to the Options bar and click the Font Color field.

That opens the Color Picker, which we covered in an earlier tutorial in this series.

To select white here go to the large field on the left and click on white and then click OK.

If you want to type uppercase letters, as I do, press the Caps lock key on your keyboard.

Then click in the image and start typing.

I'm going to type the name of a fictional tailor business.

You can type any name you like.

After you enter or edit text you always have to accept it.

One way to do that is to go up to the Options bar and click the big Checkmark there.

02:26

Positioning text and understanding type layers

If the text isn't where you want it, then go to the Tools panel and select the Move tool.

Click in the image and drag the text where you want it.

Now take a look at the Layers panel.

You'll see that Photoshop CC has created a new layer for you and has even named it for you.

The T icon on the layer indicates that this is a special re-editable type layer.

Now let's say you want another type layer.

Using multiple type layers will let you work with and position each one separately, just like regular layers.

So let's go back to the Tools panel and select the Horizontal Type tool again.

02:59

Creating multiple type layers and multiline text

Then move into the image and hold down the Shift key, as you click to start a new type layer.

That assures that the new text will end up on its own layer rather than tacked on to the end of the first layer, which can happen if you start making one type layer too close to another.

Let's choose some different options for this type layer.

I'll go up to the Font menu and this time I'm going to choose a different font and a smaller font size.

And then I'll start typing.

You can type what you like.

At the end of the first line I'm going to press the Return or the Enter key on the keyboard to add another line of type on the same type layer.

When you're finished typing, go up to the Options bar and click the big Checkmark.

As long as you still have the type layer selected in the Layers panel and you still have the Horizontal Type tool selected in the Tools panel, you can change the options for this type layer.

For example, if I want the 2 lines of type on this layer

04:08

Aligning text and saving editable type layers

to be center-aligned, here in the Options bar I'll click the Center Align icon.

Then select the Move tool in the Tools panel and click on the new text and drag it where you want it.

And now there's another type layer over in the Layers panel.

When you're finished, go to the File menu and choose Save As...

In the Save As dialog box it's important to save in the Photoshop format and to leave Layers checked in order to retain your editable type layers in this working version of the file.

If you need a copy to share, you can save another copy as a JPEG.

But the JPEG won't retain your type layers.

So those are the basics of creating text.

Stay tuned for the next video where we'll see how to edit text.

What you learned: To add text

In the Tools panel, select the Horizontal Type tool.
In the options bar, choose a font, font size, color, and other options for your text. You can edit any of these settings later.
Click on the canvas and enter a single line of text. You can also create a paragraph of text by dragging out a text box and then typing inside the box.
Click the check mark in the options bar to accept the text and exit text mode. This automatically creates a new, editable type layer in the Layers panel.
Use the Move tool to move your text into position in the image.
Save your image in the Photoshop (PSD) format to retain the editable type layers for future editing.

Try these tutorials with Photoshop

Edit photos to create new images and graphics.

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Cookies are small text files stored by your web browser when you use websites. There are also other technologies that can be used for similar purposes like HTML5 Local Storage, web beacons, and embedded scripts. These technologies help us do things like remembering you and your preferences when you return to our sites, measure how you use the website, conduct market research, and gather information about the ads you see and interact with.

If enabled:

We can improve your experience by tailoring the site and the content to things we think might be of interest
We can better keep track of your preferences — like what language you prefer to use
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