TYPE TIPS

by Trevor Morris

1. Here is a very useful tip for achieving added control (beyond the available anti-aliasing settings) over the rendering of extremely small type. First, scale the type to (for example) 200%: then, scale it to 50% (essentially bringing it back to its original size). Open the type dialog window (by double clicking on the type layer). While the type window is open, moving the text in the image window will cause the anti-aliasing to shift / rerender. Close the type window and reposition the type as desired – with the type window closed, you may move the type without affecting the anti-aliasing.
2. Use the Enter key on the numeric keypad (on the right side of the keyboard), or Ctrl+Enter (on the main keyboard) to commit text changes in the type dialog box. Note: (Photoshop 6) You may also use the Commit Changes (checkmark) button in the Options palette (Window » Show Options).
3. (Photoshop 6) Use the View » Show Extras [Ctrl+H] command to hide a text selection. This undocumented feature is really useful!
4. (Photoshop 6) Hold the Alt key as you click or drag a Text Box to display a Paragraph Text Size dialog box. The dialog box will display the current Text Box dimensions: enter the desired values for the Width and Height. Note: Another alternative is to simply watch the Width (W) and Height (H) values in the Info palette [F8] (Window » Show Info) as you draw the Text Box. Note: If you continue to hold Alt key down after the mouse button has been depressed (and you begin to drag), the Text Box will be draw from the center. Upon releasing the mouse button, the Text Box Size dialog box will appear.
5. To modify the properties of several type layers simultaneously (i.e. font, color, size, etc.), link the desired type layers together and hold the Shift key while changing the type properties. Note: This feature applies to changes performed in the Options palette (Window » Show Options), the Character palette (Window » Show Character), and / or Paragraph palette (Window » Show Paragraph).
6. Anti-aliased type may be rendered inconsistently at small size (or low resolutions). To reduce this inconsistency, turn off the Fractional Widths option (in the Character palette menu).
7. Using the Type tool [T]: double-click a word to select it; triple-click a line to select it; quadrupleclick a paragraph to select it; and quintuple-click to select all characters in a bounding box. Tip: While in text selection mode, use Ctrl+A to select all type on the active layer.
8. To restrict the use of certain fonts to Adobe applications, place them in C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Fonts\
9. Despite the fact that both the Edit » Fill... command and the Paint Bucket tool [G] are disabled for type layers, Alt+Backspace (fill with foreground color) and Ctrl+Backspace (fill with background color) still work!
10. Below is a table of hotkeys that are applicable when working with type layers: HotKey Result

Ctrl+A select all type

Ctrl+Shift+Right Arrow / Ctrl+Shift+Left Arrow select word to left / right

Ctrl+Shift+Greater Than ( > ) /

Ctrl+Shift+Less Than ( < )

increase / decrease type by 2 px (pt)

Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Greater Than ( > ) /

Ctrl+Alt+Shift+ Less Than ( < )

increase / decrease type by 10 px (pt)

Alt+Down Arrow / Alt+Up Arrow increase / decrease leading by 2 px

Ctrl+Alt+Down Arrow / Ctrl+Alt+Up Arrow increase / decrease leading by 10 px

Alt+Right Arrow / Alt+Left Arrow increase / decrease kerning by 2/100 em

Ctrl+Alt+Left Arrow / Ctrl+Alt+Right Arrow increase / decrease kerning by 1/10 em

Alt+Shift+Up Arrow / Alt+Shift+Down Arrow raise / lower baseline by 2 px

Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Up Arrow / Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Down Arrow raise / lower baseline by 10 px

Ctrl+Shift+C center-align type

Ctrl+Shift+L left-align type

Ctrl+Shift+R right-align type