Photoshop
CS6 release comes with a few type tricks up its sleeve, and in case you
find yourself working with type a lot in Photoshop, in case you are
mocking up print layouts or web pages, you're going to get a great deal
of mileage with one of these extra features. Let's take a look.
We'll
get started with the fact that Photoshop now has an actual Type menu!
Within the Type menu, Adobe has amassed all the functions related to
working with type, and it has added some new ones as well. The very
first one we'll talk about is the Font Preview Size option.
Nevertheless,
if you take a look beneath the Type menu, you will find that it is
possible to alter the font preview size from its default of Small (you
might call it "Tiny") to one of 4 larger sizes. Deciding upon the middle
size of Large gives a a lot more readable
listing of fonts for those of us whose eyesight might be less than it
once was. Next, we'll take a look at something that might be a
significant advantage as soon as your mocking up a layout. Photoshop now
has Lorum Ipsum placeholder text built directly in. How's that for
convenience? Just drag out a text box using the Type tool, then choose
Type > Paste Lorum Ipsum.
This makes a brand new style
depending on the basic paragraph, called "Basic Paragraph 1." Double
clicking that may open the Paragraph Style Options dialog, where we
could make the changes shown to produce a body text style. We can modify
the name of the style to Body Text, the font style to Minion Pro, the
size to 14 point, and also the color to a deep blue. Clicking OK updates
the design and style, nevertheless this isn't utilized on our
document's text yet.
Let's click on the first text layer we made,
after which you can click Body Text inside the Paragraph Styles panel.
Observe that the
style of the text is updated instantly. In the event you don't
experience a change, try clicking on the Basic Paragraph style, then
back to Body Text.
Although Photoshop isn't a text layout
application in the class of Indesign or Illustrator, it's nonetheless
the tool preferred by several graphic designers who are tasked with
creating concepts and ideas. Together with the new boosted type
capabilities in Photoshop CS6, designers have more flexibility and the
means to a more successful work-flow. The Paragraph Styles are still a
little creaky, and don't always work as expected - hopefully this can
get shaken out all through the beta phase - but this is definitely one
step in the right course. Search online for more information on Creative Suite 6.
