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Format characters

Set type attributes before you enter characters or reset them to change the appearance of selected characters in a type layer. 

Select individual characters before you can format them. Select one character, a range of characters, or all characters in a type layer.

To get up to speed with text-related Photoshop features, go to Add words to your picture.

Use the Character Styles panel and the Character panel in Photoshop to adjust type attributes of selected characters
Adjust type attributes of selected characters

Select characters

  1. Do one of the following to select a type layer:

    • Select the Move tool  and double-click the type layer on the canvas.
    • Select the Horizontal Type tool  or the Vertical Type tool  .
    • Select the type layer in the Layers panel to automatically select a type layer.
  2. Position the insertion point in the text, and do one of the following:

    • Drag to select one or more characters.
    • Select in the text and then Shift-click to select a range of characters.
    • Choose Select > All to select all the characters in the layer.
    • Double-click a word to select it. Triple-click a line to select it. Quadruple-click a paragraph to select it. Quintuple-click anywhere in the text flow to select all characters in a bounding box.
    • To use the arrow keys to select characters, select in the text, and then hold down Shift and press the right arrow or left arrow key. To use the keys to select words, hold down Shift + Ctrl (Windows) or Shift + Command (macOS) and press the right arrow or left arrow key.
  3. To select all the characters in a layer without positioning the insertion point in the text flow, select the type layer in the Layers panel, and then double-click the layer’s type icon.

    Note:

    Selecting and formatting characters in a type layer puts the type tool into edit mode.

Format characters using the Character panel

Use the given options in the Character panel to format characters. Some formatting options are also available in the options bar.

  1. Go to Window > Character or select the Character panel tab if the panel is visible but not active.

    Note:

    You can format characters from the following places:

    • Character panel
    • Type tool options bar
    • Properties panel
    • Contextual Task Bar
  2. With a type tool selected, select the panel button from the options bar.

    To set an option in the Character panel, choose a value from the pop‑up menu on the right side of the option. For options with numeric values, you can also use the up and down arrows to set the value, or you can edit the value directly in the text box. When you edit a value directly, press Enter or Return to apply a value, Shift + Enter or Shift + Return to apply a value and then highlight the value just edited, or Tab to apply a value and move to the next text box in the panel.

Note:

Select Show Asian Text Options in the Type preferences for the Set Tsume option to appear in the Character panel.

You can access additional commands and options in the Character panel menu. To use this menu, select the hamburger icon in the upper right corner of the panel.

Dynamic shortcuts

Dynamic shortcuts are keyboard shortcuts accessible from the Character panel menu when entering point or paragraph type, when selecting type, or when the I‑beam is in text.

They are available for type options such as Faux Bold, Faux Italic, All Caps, Small Caps, Superscript, Subscript, Underline, and Strikethrough.

Type size and color

Type size determines how large the type appears in the image.

Points is the default unit of measurement for type. One PostScript point is equal to 1/72 of an inch in a 72‑ppi image. However, you can switch between using the PostScript and traditional definitions of point size.

Change the default unit of measurement for type in the Units & Rulers section of the Preferences dialog box.

The type you enter is rendered in the current foreground color, which can be changed before or after entering type.

When editing existing type layers, you can change the color of individual, selected characters, or of all type in a layer.

Choose a type size

In the Character panel, enter or select a new value for size  .

To use an alternate unit of measurement, enter the unit (in, cm, mm, pt, px, or pica) after the value in the Font Size text box.

Define the point size unit

  1. Go to Edit > Preferences > Units & Rulers (Windows) or Photoshop > Settings > Units & Rulers (macOS).

  2. For Point/Pica Size, select from the following options:

    PostScript (72 points/inch) Sets a unit size compatible for printing to a PostScript device

    Traditional (72.27 points/inch) Uses 72.27 points per inch, as traditionally used in printing

  3. Select OK.

Change type color

Do one of the following: 

  • Select the color selection box from either the options bar or Character panel and select a color using the Color Picker.
  • Use fill shortcuts. To fill in the foreground color, select Alt + Backspace (Windows) or Option + Delete (macOS). To fill in the background color, select Ctrl + Backspace (Windows) or Command + Delete (macOS).
  • Apply an overlay layer style to the type layer to apply a color, gradient, or pattern on top of the existing color. You can’t apply an overlay layer style selectively as it affects all characters in the type layer.
  • Select the foreground color selection box in the toolbox and then a color using the Color Picker. Alternatively, select a color in the Color panel or the Swatches panel. If you use this method to change the color of an existing type layer, you must first select the characters on that layer.

Change color of individual letters

  1. Using any method, enter the edit mode for a type layer on your canvas.

  2. In the document window, select the characters you want to change.
  3. Select the color swatch in the options bar.

  4. In the Color Picker, locate the color range you want and then select the desired color. The color you select appears in the top half of the color swatch and the original color remains in the bottom half.

  5. Select OKYou won’t see the new color in the characters until you deselect them or select something else.

Format text in the Character panel

Underline or strikethrough

Place a line under horizontal type or to the left or right of vertical type. You can also place a line through horizontal or vertical type. The line is always the same color as the type color.

Select the type you want to underline or strike through.

  • To underline horizontal type, select the underline button   in the Character panel.
  • To apply an underline to the left or right of vertical type, choose Underline Left or Underline Right from Type options in the Properties panel. You can apply an underline to the left or right, but not to both sides. A check mark indicates that an option is selected.
  • To apply a horizontal line through horizontal type or a vertical line through vertical type, select the strikethrough button    in the Character panel. You can also choose Strikethrough from Type options in the Properties panel.
Note:

The Underline Left and Underline Right options appear in the Character panel menu only when a type layer containing vertical type is selected. When working with vertical Asian type, you can add an underline on either side of the type line.

All caps or small caps

Enter or format type as uppercase characters, either all caps or small caps.

When you format text as small caps, Photoshop automatically uses the small cap characters designed as part of the font, if available. If the font does not include small caps, Photoshop generates faux small caps.

  1. Select the type you want to change.
  2. Select the all caps button or small caps button from Type options in the Properties panel. A check mark indicates that the option is selected.

Superscript or subscript characters

Superscript and subscript text (also called superior and inferior text) are reduced‑size text raised or lowered in relation to a font’s baseline.

If the font does not include superscript or subscript characters, Photoshop generates faux superscript or subscript characters.

  1. Select the type you want to change.
  2. Select the superscript button   or the subscript button   from Type options in the Properties panel. A check mark indicates that the option is selected.

Character styles

A character style includes character formatting attributes, and can be applied to characters, a paragraph, or even a range of paragraphs. You can create Character styles and then apply them later.

Choose Window > Character Styles to open the Character Styles panel. 

To apply a character style, select the text or text layer and select a character style.

Type styles are hierarchical: Manual overrides supersede any applied character styles, which in turn replace applied paragraph styles. This hierarchical approach lets you combine the efficiency of styles with the flexibility to customize your designs.

Create a character style

  1. If you want to base a new style on the formatting of existing text, select that text.

  2. Choose Create new character style   from the Character Styles panel menu.

Note:

To create a style without first selecting text, select Create new character style from the Character Styles panel. To edit a style without applying it to text, select an image layer, such as the Background, and then double-click the style.

Edit a character style

Double-click existing styles to edit them and update all associated text in the current document. Changing the style formatting updates all text to which the style has been applied with the new format. 

To edit a character style, do the following:

  1. Double-click the style in the Character Styles panel.
  2. To specify the formatting attributes, select a category (such as Basic Character Formats) and specify the attributes to add to the style.
  3. When you’ve finished specifying the formatting attributes, select OK.

Specify default type styles (Creative Cloud only)

Current character and paragraph styles can be saved as type defaults. These defaults are automatically applied to new Photoshop documents and can also be applied to existing documents that don't already contain type styles. For more information, see Paragraph styles.

To save the current character and paragraph styles as the type defaults, do any of the following:

  • Go to Type > Save Default Type Styles.
  • In the Character Styles or the Paragraph Styles panel, choose Save Default Type Styles from the panel menu.

To apply the default Character and Paragraph styles to a document:

  1. Do any of the following:

    • Go to Type > Load Default Type Styles.
    • In the Character Styles or the Paragraph Styles panel, choose Load Default Type Styles from the panel menu.
  2. If you are loading the default type styles into a document that already has an existing type style, the Import Paragraph Styles dialog box appears. You can choose whether or not to replace the existing type style with the default type style.