Lesson 4 :: Blending and Text
In this lesson we will go a bit further into the image blending options. We will also cover how you can add text to your final image. You would probably say, “Oh, that’s easy. Just add your text.” but it’s more than that. In this lesson we will cover that.
More Blending options
The following methods that I will explain can be used in all the three image manipulation programs we discussed in our first lesson. This method will allow you to blend your layers. Blending your layer means that you are changing the layer blend mode. This will effect your entire layer. So even if you have a selection selected that you want to blend, it will ignore this selection. You can find the blend mode on the left corner of your layer palette. Besides changing the Blend Mode you can also change the opacity of your layer. A new layer will always be in the default settings. The default settings is the Blend Mode “Normal” and the default opacity of 100%.
Blend Modes
These are the blend modes that are listed in Photoshop. Mostly all of them also appear in GIMP and PaintShop Pro. I think GIMP may also have a few others. Don’t be afraid to just try those out and look at the effect it gives. If you really want to know what they do, you can also look them up in the manual of GIMP. But be warned! GIMPs manual is in this aspect very evil. It talks about formulas and not truly what they do.
Textures
Textures! Okay I think this, together with explaining text, is one of the harder ones to explain. It’s something that you use on feeling. Textures are images that mirrors actual textures. Thing about paper, glass, leaves, etc, but also light effects. Textures are there to give just that little extra flare to your image. When using a texture I always use it together with a blend mode and sometimes I change the opacity. This means in my image manipulations you will hardly see a texture in normal mode. You can find textures by searching on the internet. There are even sites that let you use textures for free.
Text
Like I said, adding text to an image isn’t as easy as it looks. It’s hard to do and hard to explain. But when you add text to your image you have to think carefully about where to place your text. You should never place your text over your image. If you do that, you will lose the focus on your image. Besides loosing the focus, your text can also be hard to read. Think twice before covering your brilliant edited image with text.
Anti-Alias
Anti-Alias is a method of making your text appear smoother and more sharp by essentially resampling at a lower resolution. It’s important to add Anti-Alias to your text, because in the end it would just look much better. There are five possibilities in Photoshop to set your Anti-Alias on. You have None, Sharp, Crisp, Strong and Smooth. When you are adding text to an image, never use None. None is the option that you use when you want to add a ‘pixel’ font, which means you are adding a small font that and will look very ugly with the other options. So I never use None, except when I’m working with a pixel font like handy00.
Base Colour
When adding text, I normally pick out either the lightest or darkest colour that appears within the image as my starting point. I do either that or start with straight black or white. You shouldn’t limit yourself to these colours, though. You are looking for a colour that will stand out against your background, but also a colour that doesn’t mismatch your background. And don’t be afraid of the colour, because you can always change it if you don’t like it.
Choosing a font
Choosing a font is the hardest, but also the most fun part of all and it really takes up your time. I have this huge font collection. When I’m adding a font, I go to almost all my fonts and choose those that I like. So when you are choosing a font, never stop at the first font you see and like. Look further through your fonts and pick a few examples and then match it with your image to pick one.
When adding text, I normally pick out either the lightest or darkest colour that appears within the image as my starting point. I do either that or start with straight black or white. You shouldn’t limit yourself to these colours, though. You are looking for a colour that will stand out against your background, but also a colour that doesn’t mismatch your background. And don’t be afraid of the colour, because you can always change it if you don’t like it.
Choosing a font
Choosing a font is the hardest, but also the most fun part of all and it really takes up your time. I have this huge font collection. When I’m adding a font, I go to almost all my fonts and choose those that I like. So when you are choosing a font, never stop at the first font you see and like. Look further through your fonts and pick a few examples and then match it with your image to pick one.
Fonts
There are a lot of different kind of fonts. But most of them are classified in different types. You have the Classic Serif Fonts, the Sans-Serif Fonts, Handwritten Fonts and Fancy Fonts.
Classic Serif Fonts
Examples: Times New Roman, Cambria, Georgia
These classic fonts are to be found on every computer. You can say that they are a bit plain, but they are easy to be manipulated into something nice. You can do this by changing the distance between letters. This kind of fonts are good to use next to a Handwritten or a Fancy font.
Sans-Serif Fonts
Examples: Franklin Gothic, Arial, Tahoma
The Sans-Serif Fonts are the casual version of Classic Serif Fonts. The biggest difference between these two are that the Sans-Serif Fonts don’t have the end strokes like the Classic Serif Fonts.
Handwritten Fonts
Examples: Jellyka, Journal, Moon Flower
Handwritten fonts are based upon the varied and often fluid strokes created by handwriting. Handwritten fonts are most of the time organized into highly regular formal types similar to cursive writing or looser and more casual fonts. Handwritten fonts are easily to combine with Serif and Sans-Serif fonts. The only downside of these fonts is that they sometimes are a bit too hard to read when not put in the right size.
Fancy Fonts
Examples: Fabrics, Little Bird, Cityscape
The last type are the Fancy Fonts. The Fancy Fonts are those who don’t fall under the ones I mentioned above. These fonts have a design feeling over them. Fancy Fonts are always nice to use, but they can be hard to read or too heavy for your computer or image manipulation program.
Classic Serif Fonts
Examples: Times New Roman, Cambria, Georgia
These classic fonts are to be found on every computer. You can say that they are a bit plain, but they are easy to be manipulated into something nice. You can do this by changing the distance between letters. This kind of fonts are good to use next to a Handwritten or a Fancy font.
Sans-Serif Fonts
Examples: Franklin Gothic, Arial, Tahoma
The Sans-Serif Fonts are the casual version of Classic Serif Fonts. The biggest difference between these two are that the Sans-Serif Fonts don’t have the end strokes like the Classic Serif Fonts.
Handwritten Fonts
Examples: Jellyka, Journal, Moon Flower
Handwritten fonts are based upon the varied and often fluid strokes created by handwriting. Handwritten fonts are most of the time organized into highly regular formal types similar to cursive writing or looser and more casual fonts. Handwritten fonts are easily to combine with Serif and Sans-Serif fonts. The only downside of these fonts is that they sometimes are a bit too hard to read when not put in the right size.
Fancy Fonts
Examples: Fabrics, Little Bird, Cityscape
The last type are the Fancy Fonts. The Fancy Fonts are those who don’t fall under the ones I mentioned above. These fonts have a design feeling over them. Fancy Fonts are always nice to use, but they can be hard to read or too heavy for your computer or image manipulation program.
So when you are adding text to your final design think about the following points:
- Where is a good place that doesn’t lose the focus of your image?
- Use a darker or lighter colour as your first colour and go from there to one you like
- Use Anti-Alias
- Go through all your fonts and choose a few possible fonts and choose between them
- Add Additional Effects to make sure that your text is readable.