Creating See-Through Text with Paint Shop Pro



This time we'll start with a prepared graphic. I'll use this swirl I created in Fractal Design's Painter while warming up one morning. You will, of course, use something else. This works really well, for example, with photos.

http://i43.tinypic.com/i2ps93.giffigure 6.1



Now, create a new graphic with the same dimensions as your photo or design. In this new graphic we need to add some text. I have the background color set to white and the foreground set to a dark blue. After selecting the text tool, find a font that will allow a large part of your photo to show through. I chose Comic San MS and set it to bold at 48 points. Since my graphic is set vertically and my text is horizontal, it would appear that I have a small problem as the large text doesn't fit. This is easily remedied; before de-selecting the text I used "IMAGE">> "ROTATE" with direction set to right and degrees set to 90. This turns the text. Perfect!

http://i41.tinypic.com/28s4l92.giffigure 6.2


Okay, here comes the trick(s). There is a small L-shaped two-headed arrow with the foreground/background swatch. Clicking on this swaps the foreground and background colors. Click on this arrow so that the foreground color becomes white and the background changes to blue.

Now from the menu select "SELECTIONS">>"SELEC T ALL", then select "EDIT">>"COPY". Make the original graphic the current graphic by clicking in its menu bar. Select "EDIT">>"PASTE"> >"AS TRANSPARENT SELECTION". You should see the graphic through the text, like this:

http://i40.tinypic.com/mblkyu.giffigure 6.3

This is a perfect trick to add to your arsenal... quickly now before this becomes as popular as shadowed text

Here's another photo I altered using this technique:

http://i43.tinypic.com/2ldzqkm.giffigure 6.4


That's it....