Adding Text to a Photo
Several people have asked me how I add titles or my signature to photos. So I have decided to write up this little set of Instructions to explain how to do it. It is actually quite Easy to do once you have been pointed in the right direction.
I use Adobe Photoshop CS3 quite a bit to do my photo editing, but titles and signatures can be added to photos in two of my favorite Free Downloadable Photo Editing software. Those programs are GIMP and Picasa.
In Adobe it is quite simple to add Text to a photo. You simply click on the Text button on the left hand side of the screen and then place the blinking cursor where you want to type. You type out what you want to add, choose the size, type, boldness and if you want Italic style of the font by highlighting it and then you go to the text bar at the top of the screen.
Once you have done this you can reposition the text to make it look right in the photo. After you have done this step you must go to the Layer Command Button on the task bar and choose the Rasterize command. Then choose Text. This embeds the text into the photo. I also Rasterize all the Layers of the photo. This command locks everything in the photo.
Next you choose the size of the photo by going to the Image Command Radio Button on the task bar. Choose Image size and adjust the height and width of the photo. I normally choose 800 X 600 pixels because it is a nice size, it emails easily and it is a size that most sights on the internet accept.
In Picasa you edit your photo and when that is done you select the Text radio button on the Left hand side of the screen. Now you can choose the Font Style, Font size, Boldness and if you want Italics. From here you go to the photo and click your mouse button in the spot you want the text. Now you simply start typing.
If you need to move the text it can be done easily as soon as you are done typing.
Your next step is to Save the photo to a file on your computer. I have Picasa setup to save the photos at 640 pixels for emailing and posting to the internet.
Finally, here is how to do the same job in Gimp. Go to the Toolbox. Select the Style of Font, the Size, Boldness and if you want Italics. Then you click on the Font Radio Button. When you click inside the photo a box will appear for you to type in. When you are done check mark the command Use Selected Font. Now your Text will be in the photo and you can move it around in the photo to place it where you want it.
Here is where you go to the Image Radio Button, click on it and select Scale Image. Then you use the up/down arrows to bring the photo down to 800 X 533 pixels. Now you are ready to save the photo to a file on your computer.
I Highly recommend the Free Photo Editing Software like Gimp and Picasa. They are quite easy to use, they do a great job and they don’t cost like the Adobe Photoshop does!
I hope this little tutorial explains Text Addition to photos and makes it easier for you to understand and do!
Dick Raymond
Copyright 6/18/2010
