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USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8
Adding text and shapes
Last updated 7/26/2011
Change text color
You can change the type color before or after you enter text. When editing existing text layers, you can change the color
of individual characters or all type in a layer. You can also apply a gradient to text in a text layer.
The Color menu in the options bar displays many preset color swatches from which you can choose.
1 Do one of the following:
• To change the color of text before you type it, select a type tool.
• To change the color of existing text, select a type tool and then drag to select the text.
2 Do one of the following:
• To choose a color from the Color Picker, click the colored area of the Color menu in the options bar.
• To choose a color from a list of color swatches, click the triangle on the Color menu in the options bar.
More Help topics
“Use the Color Swatches panel” on page 210
“Use the Adobe Color Picker” on page 211
Create and use masked type
The Horizontal Type Mask tool and Vertical Type Mask tool create a selection in the shape of text. You can have fun
with text selection borders by cutting text out of an image to show the background, or pasting the selected text into a
new image. Experiment with different options to personalize your images and compositions.
Horizontal type mask used to create a filled selection.
1 Select the layer on which you want the selection to appear. For best results, don’t create the type selection border
on a text layer.
2 Select the Horizontal Type Mask tool or the Vertical Type Mask tool .
