It’s usually something simple in the beginning…
I am having difficulty following the Help information concerning text. I am having difficulty understanding why my colored text changes to gray
The most likely explanation is that your image is in Grayscale Mode. Go to Image|Mode and check RGB. Then you can add your text in color.
Peace,
Tony
Once heeding Tony’s advice…
1. For previously entered text, click on the text layer in the layers palette, then reselect the Text tool if not your current tool. That will provide the text tool options in the options bar, where you can choose from and modify the warping, color, font size, etc.
2. To rotate a layer independent from the text, first ensure both layers are "floating". The text layer will be usually, but if there is only one other layer with your image data, it will be the background. To "float" the background (i.e., promote it to a layer), just double-click on it in the layers palette and OK the change. Then, to transform the layer (rotate, scale, etc.) use the Edit > Transform command (Ctrl+T) to perform the desired change.
Hope that helps,
Daryl
Tony and Daryl,
A big thanks to both of you.
I now have a far better understanding of why it takes so long for the art department to get work back to me.
With Image Composer you can’t get colored warped images without a lot of work. With Photoshop you can’t rotate text/images with a click and a corner drag.
It looks like someone would have done a research study and discovered frequently done tasks. Or, perhaps my frequently needed task of placing text and/or images on a background image is not a common task.
Oh well!
I am having difficulty editing text that has already been placed – actually I have been unable to do this.
It just occurred to me that it’s possible that you are trying to edit text on an image that has been flattened. If that’s the case, you can’t do what you want, in any program (er.. that I know of).
With Photoshop you can’t rotate text/images with a click and a corner drag.
Yes you can, you just have to know how. First press Ctrl-T (Edit|Transform|Free Transform), then you will have a bounding box and you can rotate the image by grabbing corners or by entering values in the options bar.
Peace,
Tony
Tony,
I’m sorry. I seem never to make myself clear.
Perhaps you are correct. Perhaps not.
Here’s the situation. I have a sports ball of some kind. I use the Text tool and create a warped image. I create a second warped (or not) text image. I insert another image from a file. Somehow (I’ll figure this out later) none of the four "sprites" (i.e. background sports ball image, first lettering, second lettering, another image) are "selected".
Now, according to you I click Ctrl-T. I just don’t understand. How did I tell you which of the four components I want to rotate (or change in numerous other ways? In Image Composer that’s (i.e. selection) what my click accomplishes.
In photoshop, you use layers. Make sure the layers palette is open (View|Layers).
When you use the text tool, it automatically creates a new layer and places the text on it.
So you use the layers palette to select the layer you’re going to do something on, and then perform the action.
So… after warping your text, you can Ctrl-T (Transform) if you are on that layer to rotate it just right. When you want to rotate the ball, you select the layer with the ball on it and do the same thing.
There is a quirk for new users that is important to point out. If a layer says "Background", you won’t be able to rotate it. So you change it to an official layer by Alt-double clicking on it (it’s in the menu somewhere but I’ve been using the shortcut so long I can’t remember the sequence.)
It will become Layer 0 and then it behaves like any other layer, meaning that you can rotate it.
So in summary, the first thing to do is to activate the layer palette, then you should get a good idea.
Now, one last thing – if you click on the Move Tool, the options bar at the top changes. There is an option to AutoSelect Layer. This means that simply by clicking on an object you automatically select it instead of using the layers palette.
When I first started using photoshop I loved it. But now I don’t use it because it can sometimes be hard to select the correct layer when things overlap – minor quirk, but I thought you should know about it.
Does this help?
Peace,
Tony
Tony,
Thanks for your help. My problem is that it simply takes too long for the art department to get their work done. When they bring new folks on board it takes too long for them to get up to speed. When one sees Image Composer used and then sees Photoshop used they generally prefer Image Composer until they recognze that Photoshop is more powerful. Then they find that Photoshop is less user-friendly most specifically when trying to position things correctly.
My goal is to try and discover a step by step procedure in Photoshop that is almost as simple as Image Composer. You have been kind enough to tell me how to accomplish the task. But, the problem remains either before (in the selection of the item) or after (how to get back to your pre-selection environment). I’ll have to play around with this (whenever I get time again) and figure out something.
Thanks again.
Well, I’m not sure exactly what you mean about pre and post selection environments, but let’s do it this way…
There is a huge learning curve in Photoshop until one kind of learns how to think like photoshop "thinks". So there is a language barrier to overcome.
I’ve been visiting this forum for over two years, and can tell you without a doubt that this is the most professional, helpful, and comprehensive source for help with Photoshop that you will find, for the price (free!).
So don’t be bashful. When you need help, it is here. There’s no such thing as a "nudge" as long as you’re trying to figure things out.
Peace,
Tony
For what it’s worth firstlast1, for the little that I’ve ever used Image Composer, it’s name pretty well reflects more of what its function is…composing (i.e., arranging) the elements of an image. It may actually be compared more correctly to Adobe Illustrator and so it is that I also suggest that Illustrator MIGHT better serve your needs than Photoshop, but both do indeed have strong learning curves given their flexibility. The sprites of Image Composer are essentially objects, rather than layers. In Illustrator (I’ve barely ever used it to know details), I’m pretty sure you can just as easily select and manipulate objects as you can with sprites in Image Composer.
Now, having said that, I know also that Image Composer does provide editing capabilities that are also akin to Photoshop, so it is really a mixed-breed of graphics application. Where Photoshop and Illustrator are each very powerful applications with respect to their intended use (raster vs. vector graphics manipulation), Image Composer is a less powerful application on the whole that services both objectives to some extent. I actually kept the Impressionist plug-in for Image Composer for use with Photoshop, since it is compatible. I can’t say I’ve used it any though.
Regards,
Daryl
