Text on the page with an image

In doing one of your "standard" sized Folios (Say, with the print done as an 8" X 10" if I've figured your dimensions correctly from the DVD workshop) what would be a typical print size to allow for text along the bottom? I like the idea of titling the photos, just can't quite figure out a good layout for the prints themselves!

— Rob White

Well, my real answer is . . . whatever looks right. But let me try to be more helpful, if I can.

I think of text as part of the artwork, not just some additional information tacked on for description. For me, therefore, the layout of the words and letters is as important as the fussing and finessing I do in the image.

There are several aspects that I consider:

Size

Relative to the page, relative to the image size

Font face

Serif, non-serif, font family

Font style

Italics, bold, light, etc.
Small caps, all caps, lower case, title case
Old style, proportional, ligatures

Font metrics

Optical alignment, spacing, scrunching

Placement

Right or left aligned, centered, justified

Color

Black, gray, color, stroked

Treatment

Plain, stroked, drop shadow, textured

Non-text elements

Lines, glyphs

All of these need conscious decisions in how we design the text elements in the layout. All these decisions influence where on the page the text will go. The best advice I can give is to pay attention to typesetting and get a feel for it. Spend a little time looking specifically at the typesetting in places where type is handled with care as part of the layout in artwork, for example in book jackets and title pages, on posters, greeting cards, DVD movie boxes, broadsides, and, if you can find them, examples of work done by calligraphers whose work is all about text and layout. Study as much as you can and learn how type is used by others whose experience and expertise can be a guide. We do the same thing with our image making; why not with typesetting, too?

In my folios, I want the image front and center, the text diminished and in a support role. I'll often use a gray color, a relatively small font size, and most commonly center the text so it's weight on the page doesn't throw off the balance of the print. If you were to measure it, you'd often find the title of the prints or the title of the folio about a quarter inch from the bottom, but that varies depending on the image, the folio, the layout, and the text treatment. Here is an example.

But, in the Made of Steel folios where there were larger text components, it required a completely different layout.

Just as you take time to play around with an image trying different printing variations, fussing with tones and contrast, cropping and toning, and all the things we do until a photograph is right and done, take time to play with the text layouts, too. Find what feels right. Don't get lazy and just slop it on the page. Don't get rushed and give up too soon. Care and sensitivity is what artmaking is all about.

Comments

[Brooks Jensen]

When providing text at the bottom of a folio print, I wish sometimes to use a straight line separating one text line from the other. For the life of me, I can't seem to figure out how to make a straight line from the PS Text area. It must be too simple for me to find or implement. Could you suggest a way?
— Dan Ratliff

Dan,
To be honest, I can remember the last time I did text in Photoshop, so I'm not sure the best way to do it.

The only idea that comes to mind is to possibly use the brush tool, click to make a dot, then shift-click to complete a line. It may not be parallel to the edge. Will Ctrl-Shift-Click force it to 0-degrees? Aligning it is another fussy operation since you essentially be moving pixels as a group. I've also notice that when I do this in Photoshop I get a line that had rounded edges and a sort of "scalloped" line because the brush shape is just repeated every so often, i.e., it not really a "line" as we think of it. This is yet another reason why I do all my layout work in InDesign.

Maybe the pencil tool would be a better choice than the brush tool, come to think of it.

Can anyone else answer the question of how to make a straight line in Photoshop? The pen tool? Text tool? Gotta be a way, somehow. I can give you half a dozen ways in InDesign, but that's not what you asked for. Sorry I can't be of more help.
Brooks

[Jørgen Rav-Petersen]

Maybe I misunderstand the problem, but you can draw a horisontal line using the pencil tool - click and drag while holding shift.
Rav

[Neil Enns]

When building my folios, I've settled on a relatively standard layout that seems to work for photo + text. My folios are printed on 8.5x11" paper. The image is placed in a 10x6.75" space. The text goes below that in a 10x1" space, centered horizontally and vertically within that 1" space.

Like Brooks I use grey text almost all the time, with 12pt font to keep the text subtle and ensure focus stays on the image.

To do a horizontal line in Photoshop use the line tool. It's buried under the rectangle in the toolbar. You can use the "Shift+U" keyboard shortcut to cycle through the various shapes until you get to the line.

If you really want to go into depth on page layout I highly recommend the book The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst. Lots of good information not just on page layout, but also the basics of typography to make your folio design really sing.

Finally, if you need inspiration for page layouts, check out http://www.danecreekfolios.com/examples. There are a few examples there from people who have made folios and you can see how they chose to do their page designs.