NEWSLETTER
INSPIRATION
DIGITAL SCRAPBOOKINGTips & Tricks ~ Tinkering with Type
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Hello everyone. Jenelle here with some quick tips for using the Text Tool in Photoshop (and Photoshop Elements, as I believe it is quite a similar process). I love playing around with type and fonts ~ I probably spend the most amount of time on my layouts choosing the right font! What about you? Are you a font junkie like me?!?! LOL!
I do have a lot of fonts installed on my computer, so it is hard for me to remember them all. However, I recently discovered a neat little trick to make the sample size larger in my preview screen. Now, I can get a good look at all the font styles I have available. It is as simple as tweaking a few settings in your Photoshop program.
- From the Menu Bar, choose Edit>Preferences>Type
- Check the ‘Font Preview Size’
- Choose ‘Large’ or ‘Extra Large’ from the drop-down menu (options will depend on your version)
- Click OK
Now you can really see all those font styles you have on your hard drive!! I find it much easier to browse through them when they’re set at the largest size.
Also, have you noticed that some fonts come ‘packaged’ in sets with further options to make them bold and italicized, while others don’t offer you these options? Never fear! Your Photoshop and Photoshop Elements programs give you these options – even when the font package doesn’t.
In Photoshop, all you have to do is :-
- Click on the Text Tool
- Highlight the text you’d like to alter
- Click on the Toggle the Character and Paragraph palette icon in the options bar
- Choose from Faux Bold, Faux Italics, Underline, Strikethrough, All Capitals (+ more) options. They are each represented by the row of ‘T’ icons
- Then tick the check mark in the options bar to confirm your alterations
To undo the effect, simply highlight the text and click on the corresponding icon again.
Thanks for stopping by today ~ I hope this post has given you a few more tricks to add to your digi-scrapping repertoire!
Please join us again tomorrow, when Kylie will be sharing our newest Template Challenge. We’re up to number 24 already! Until then, happy scrapping everyone!
Jun 09, 2012 @ 12:45:31
Thanks so much for the tip on how to make the fonts appear larger in the drop down list!!! Best tip ever! :)
Jun 08, 2012 @ 22:44:32
:( It doesn’t seem to work the same way on PSE 10.. Any ideas?
Jun 09, 2012 @ 01:01:13
Hmm…Sorry Mallory, I don’t have PSE 10 and from the tutorials I’ve read online I thought it worked the same way for Elements users. I will keep searching for you, but in the meantime if any PSE 10 users out there can help out, we’d love to hear from you!
Jun 06, 2012 @ 18:02:36
ummmmm I freaking LOVE the fonts you’ve shown. I officially booked marked the pea fonts site. I like the fact that all the names start with the word PEA so I can keep them togethr
Jun 06, 2012 @ 16:42:00
I just changed the preview size! Awesome—-thank you!
Jun 06, 2012 @ 15:20:20
OK, this is brilliant, Jenelle — I actually didn’t know that I could change the font preview size. As a font junkie, myself, I am so embarrassed. :) hahaha
Also, another tip that helps me (especially since I didn’t know your tip!) — I use a program called NexusFont (it’s free) to organize my fonts. It’s great for these reasons: (a) you can view all of the fonts on your system — not just the ones that are installed — and then install/uninstall from your system from right in NexusFont; that way, your system doesn’t get bogged down and stuck from having too many fonts installed (I may or may not speak from experience on this one! LOL) … (b) you can create font tags/groups, and organize your fonts that way — so, one for “Serifs” — one for “Sans Serifs” — one for “Handwritten” — one for “Scripted” — etc. etc. etc. (you can create as many or as few categories as you like, and call them whatever you want … (c) you can view the fonts at any point size you like, so it’s easy to preview them … (d) I just leave this program open alongside my PS/PSE when scrapping, and toggle back and forth to find exactly what font(s) I need! LOVE IT!!!
Jun 06, 2012 @ 18:00:31
Thanks Laura – I have heard of this program before, it sounds brilliant. I really must look into it – I think most of my hard drive is taken up with fonts!! Will check it out – thanks for the tip :)
Jun 06, 2012 @ 12:27:15
Best tip EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hate putting my nose up to my monitor to try and figure out which font is the best one!
Jun 06, 2012 @ 17:58:24
LOL!!!! Me too :)
Jun 06, 2012 @ 11:27:25
Done. Wow, now I can really see my fonts!
Jun 06, 2012 @ 07:12:50
Great tips!! I also just figured out to toggle the character box you can select your text and press Ctrl+T like your transforming it, it only works when you have the text selected and HAVE not been messing with the fonts list. lol It’s a great little shortcut though when you remember to use it! :) Thenks Jenelle!
Jun 06, 2012 @ 17:57:50
Thanks Casharina – that is a handy one to know! Love shortcuts!!