Using Text as a Background on Your Layout

Article written using Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 with Windows 7

Do you ever want to include lots of text on a scrapbooking layout, but worry about overwhelming your page? I recently found myself in that exact situation. I wanted to include the words to a favorite lullaby and a journaling block, but I was concerned that the page would be too text heavy, so I decided to make the lullaby part of the background.

There are lots of different ways to blend text into the background, but I’d like to share my favorite method with you.

First, create a text box that fills your whole document. Type the words that you want in the background. Changing the font and size is a fun way to emphasize some of the text. For my layout, I used a combination of Lettering Delights Warm Heart Font and Times New Roman. When mixing fonts, you may need to manually adjust the Point Size and Leading Lines (the space between lines of text) to make things look right.

To adjust the Leading Lines, highlight the text, and then enter a number in the box to the left of the Justification box. A good rule of thumb is to use a Leading Line setting two points larger than your font points, but it will vary depending on the fonts you are using.

In my example, the text using Times New Roman is 12 pt. and the text using Lettering Delights Warm Heart Font is 30 pt. I manually set my Leading Lines to 14 pt.

Your text may not be long enough to fill the whole background. A good solution in this situation is to copy and paste the text until it fills the entire text box. Parts of it will be covered by pictures and embellishments, so it’s okay to repeat it. I wanted my text to be fully justified (which means the text is even on both the left and right edges), but it isn’t shown as an option in Photoshop Elements. But you can do it by highlighting all the text and using the shortcutShift+Ctrl+J.

Finally, to make the text truly part of the background, add a paper behind it, and then adjust the Blending Modes and Opacity. In my example, I used the “Multiply” Blending Mode with 40% Opacity.