TEN TIPS FOR TEXT
TIP 1: TEXT THAT AUTOMATICALLY LINE WRAPS
When you click within a document using the Type tool (T), text
starts at a certain spot (or point) and continues along a single
line. To add a line break, you have to press Return (PC: Enter)
on your keyboard. This is called “point text.” To have Photo-
shop automatically wrap text to the next line, create “para-
graph text” instead. To do this, grab the Type tool and then
either drag in your document to draw a box, or Option-click
(PC: Alt-click) your document and enter a width and height
into the resulting dialog. To convert one to the other, activate
the Type layer (don’t highlight the text, though) and choose
Type>Convert to Paragraph Text (or Point Text).TIP 2: LEADING
If you’ve ever added extra returns between lines of text to
create space, or wondered how designers make lines of text
appear all squashed together, you’ve encountered lead-
ing (rhymes with “bedding”). Leading controls the amount
of space between lines of text. (The term originated when
type was set by hand onto printing presses, and strips of lead
in various thicknesses were used to create space between
lines.) Just like text, leading is measured in points, although it
includes the point size of the text itself.
Leading that’s equal to the point size of text is called solid
leading, which creates lines of text that almost touch. Unless
you change it, Photoshop’s leading is set to Auto, which
is approximately 120% of the text’s point size. For example,
10-point type has an auto leading of 12 points.
To change the leading, open the Character panel (Win-
dow>Character) and change the setting circled in red here.
You can adjust the leading of several lines of text at once
or one line at a time. To adjust the leading of all the lines of
text that are on the same type layer, double-click the layer
thumbnail in the Layers panel so all of its text is highlighted.
To adjust the leading of a single line of text on a type layer
that contains many lines, highlight the line of text first.Text has the power to make or break a design, and Photoshop has a veritable smorgasbord
of text-creation and -formatting options to help you set pro-level prose. In this column, you’ll learn
10 tips specifically for text that will serve you well for the duration of your creative professional
career. Read on!LESASNIDER
Beginners’ Workshop
> PHOTOSHOP USER>^ OCTOBER 2019[ 72 ]