Image and Translucent Text

Graphics I

Image and Translucent Text

For this project, you will again be finding (or using your own) photographic image as a background. And once again, you'll be layering something translucent over that image. However, this time, rather than use representational shapes (more or less recognizable "silhouettes" of object), you'll use letters.

The phrase "display text" refers to the large lettering generally used for headlines, product names, and that sort of thing. (This is in contrast to "body text," which comprises the bulk of printed information in, let's say, a book. A chapter heading in a book, or the title on a title page, would be done in "display text," while the actual content of each chapter is "body text.") In practice, you can use the same typefaces, or fonts, for each kind of text. But a designer will often fine-tune certain parameters (settings, constraints, dimensions) of display type, such as precise letter-spacing. In addition, they will also sometimes make refinements to specific letter sizes and shapes. For instance, one might enlarge the first letter of a word or phrase, and perhaps even redesign that letter somewhat, giving it a "tail" that serves as an underscore for the other words, perhaps.

The type tool in Photoshop may be new to you. It's easy to find in the tool menu: it looks like a "T." Any time you want to create new text in Photoshop, you'll need to click on that "T."

Once you click this tool, the program will show some additional icons along the top bar, including one that indicates the "character" and "paragraph" palettes. Here's a screen shot showing both that icon and those palettes (combined, with the "character" palette on top, hiding the "paragraph" palette).

These two palettes contain a number of tools that allow you to change a number of aspects of your lettering/type. In addition to giving you another place to change the basics -- font and size -- the palettes give you the ability to change the spacing between letters and between lines, as well as to stretch the shape of the letters. (You can also stretch letters in multiple directions using the Edit - Transform - Scale function of Photoshop, though you can only do this after rasterizing the type layer you want to affect. More on rasterizing type below.)

Please keep in mind that you have numerous options for creating your lettering. While it's convenient to use the type tool in Photoshop, you may not find precisely the font you want. You could certainly find type in a type sample book (and I'll have several out that you can look through and use) and then do one of the following: 1. Scan the alphabet (or at least the letters you'll be using for your word or phrase) and then import those scanned letters into your Photoshop file. You'll be treating them as shapes, and you'll be able to select them easily with the magic wand tool. 2. You could trace letters (onto tracing paper) forming your word and then scan that tracing paper. You could then fill the traced shapes using the paint bucket tool in Photoshop, to get them to function as solid shapes. 3. You could use typefaces in a type sample book as a jumping off point for your own type design. (You could also design your letters more or less completely "from scratch" on paper and then scan them in.) Draw your letters, then scan them in and fill the outlines as suggested in #2. 4. You could begin with computer generated letters (or with letters you've created as in #s 1, 2, or 3, above) and then (rasterizing as necessary) you could refine the letter shapes using selection tools and filling in, or by "painting" with black and/or white, using the paint brush tool.

Two aspects of your type/lettering are very important for this project: 1. The letters need to be bold enough that we'll be able to see, right away, the translucency effects. (Think back to how the first project worked.) Thin, spindly letters just won't do for this. 2. The design of your letters needs to have the right "feel." Lettering has connotations: different typefaces carry a variety of associations, both because of inherent visual characteristics (e.g., a typeface with lots of spiky shapes will "feel" different from one where the letters are very graceful and rounded) and because of our history with those typefaces: the sorts of contexts in which we've seen them used.

Rasterizing type is very easy. If you've created letters using the type tool, you've created vector-defined shapes. That is, these letter shapes are not stored in the computer pixel by pixel, but by means of mathematical equations. (The reason to do this is to save memory.) But there are quite a few Photoshop functions that you cannot apply to vector-defined shapes. If you're in this situation, you should rasterize your type layer(s). Go to "Layer" on the top menu, go down to "Rasterize," and then choose "Type." Once you've done this, your letter shape will now function as any other raster-defined (pixel by pixel) shape. Note that you now will be unable to use the tools in the type character and paragraph palettes to change characteristics of your letters. You can't have it all! -- so it's wise to make those sorts of adjustments before rasterizing your type.