Creating and Editing Text

You can create all kinds of text in Photoshop, from plain ol’ horizontal to up-and-down vertical. You can even make text flow around or inside a shape. No matter what kind of text you create, it lives on a special layer called a type layer. You can do anything to a type layer that you can with any other layer: adjust its opacity, change its blend mode, apply layer styles, and so on. In the Layers panel, type layers are labeled with a big fat T, so they’re easy to spot. Photoshop automatically names each new type layer with the first few words you type, though like any other layer, you can double-click its name in the Layers panel to rename it.

To create a type layer, grab either the Horizontal or Vertical Type tool from the Tools panel, as shown in Figure 14-5. Click once in the document where you want the text to start, and then let the hunting and pecking begin. When you’re finished editing and formatting the text, let Photoshop know you’re done by pressing Enter on your computer’s numeric keypad (not Return!), pressing ⌘-Return (Ctrl+Return on a PC), or clicking the checkmark on the right side of the Options bar; technically, this is called committing text. (You can also commit text by activating another tool in the Tools panel or another layer in your Layers panel.)

Left: Click the big T in the Tools panel to reveal all your type tool options: the Horizontal and Vertical Type tools, and the Horizontal and Vertical Type Mask tools (discussed on page 628).Right: Use the Horizontal Type tool to create text that flows from left to right in a straight line. Use the Vertical Type tool to create text that flows down the page from top to bottom in a column (and which absolutely no one can read).You can change text’s orientation—whether it flows from left to right or top to bottom—anytime by clicking the Text Orientation button in the Options bar (it looks like a capital T with tiny downward and right-facing arrows). To create text that flows backward (from right to left or bottom to top), see page 626.

Figure 14-5. Left: Click the big T in the Tools panel to reveal all your type tool options: ...

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