Please help me smooth out pixelated text!

[CEC]

When adding text to photos, the edges of the letters are pixelated. (I have Photoshop Elements 13) This is a recent problem... in the past it worked just fine. I've looked at several tutorials and they all show a different version of elements/screen. They say to make sure "anti-alias" is off (it is) and faux bold is off (it is). I've gone to "Layer"... "type"... and the tutorials say there should be choices such as "sharp", "smooth" etc. I can't find these. I'd really appreciate any help you can give. -Thanks!

 

[MrToM]

Ideally you should have Anti-Alias ON....its what it is for...smoothing out sharp edges.

When viewed @ 100% (Actual Pixels) with AA ON does it still 'look' bad?

What size are the characters in the text? (In px)

Can you supply a screen shot to demonstrate what you perceive as 'pixelated'...the term really refers to bad jpeg compression so you could mean artifacts around the text...?

Regards.
MrToM.

EDIT:
Just found this:

http://www.photokaboom.com/photography/learn/Photoshop_Elements/type_tool/1_type_tool.htm

It explains virtually everything about text in PSE13.
The bit you need is about 1/3 the way down the page....ignore the top of the page, it's for earlier versions.

 

[CEC]

Thank you for responding so quickly. The first sample (bold) is with A-A off. The second one is with A-A on. These were done at 100%, Arial Reg (24pt.) When they are enlarged it's quite obvious that the edges the first sample are jagged and the second one is blurred. Since these will eventually become large banners, it is important that the edges are smooth.

 

[MrToM]

You intend to make large banners from a 80 x 214px image?

At this size anything will 'look' bad...there are no pixels to play with.

You could, possibly, if everything is a vector get a reasonable banner out of it but you'd have to up the resolution to at least 300ppi.

Are you seriously saying this is the image you are using?

Regards.
MrToM.

 

[CEC]

I'm sorry... I didn't mean to write that the above samples would be enlarged. They will eventually be done with a friend's Adobe Illustrator-vector. I changed the image to 300ppi as you suggested. Unfortunately, the edges are still jagged. (I will read the website you sent and try again tomorrow.) Thanks again.

 

[MrToM]

No worries....but I'm now really confused.

What are these images you keep posting if not the actual work you require?
If its going to be done in Illustrator why worry about these?

With all due respect I'm not sure you know what you are doing here really. I assumed you did as this was not posted in the 'Newbie' section and you made no reference to being unfamiliar with Photoshop.

Its no problem though, its pretty simple stuff and we can help you....but we do need clear, concise details on what it is you have, what you want and what you have to do it with.

At the moment we a thumbnail sized image that is not going to be used for creating a large banner that was 'pixelated' but is now 'jagged'.....and someone else is going to do the real thing as vectored art in Illustrator anyway.

You see the confusion?

To be honest, is there any need to getting this looking better if it doesn't contribute to the end result?

Regards.
MrToM.

 

[Tom Mann]

MrToM - You took the words out of my mouth. I was just about to compose an almost identical comment.

Tom M

 

[CEC]

You're right... I shouldn't have used this particular example, since it confused the issue. However, the same thing is happening to all of my projects, regardless of the final size. (bookmarks, greeting cards, collages, etc.) I did find the following advice:
http://primacommunications.com/2009/05/why-does-my-photoshop-text-look-pixelated/
However, as mentioned earlier, I cannot find the "sharp... smooth" when I go to "layer"... "type". Thanks again for your time.

 

[MrToM]

...I cannot find the "sharp... smooth" when I go to "layer"... "type"...

You won't. PSE13 doesn't have those options.

As long as your image is big enough and Anti-Alias is turned ON then you should be fine.

As a general 'rule' ALWAYS create your image as big as your system will let you....within reason of course, you can always 'output' (Save) the image to any size afterwards when its finished...if you need to.

This will also give you the best possible working conditions.

You should know, well before starting, what the final image is to be used for and so tailor your workflow to suit.....in this case it doesn't seem to matter as this is not the image to be used anyway but if it were to be used for the printing of a large banner then you would have to make sure your image has enough pixels in it to accommodate the required print size at the required resolution.

This isn't so important with vectored shapes, such as those in Illustrator, as they are not pixel based and can be scaled to any size without worrying about how many pixels are needed to create them.

You would of course have to save that file as a vectored image and not a rasterized jpg or similar.....which just defeats the object of using vectors in the first place.

If you have a specific problem with a project then by all means post it on the forums and we'll do our best to help you.

Regards.
MrToM.