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Open an image and add text to it.
Overview
Name of explainer: Open an image and add text to it
Creative theme: Image editing
Software used: GIMP
User level: BEGINNER
This is explainer 4 of 5 in this series
This series includes:
- Open an image, resize it and save it
- Open an image, rotate it and crop it
- Open an image and apply basic colour correction
- Open an image and add text
- Create a new image with a single-colour background
The Software
This series of beginner explainers uses GIMP, which is completely free to download and use.
Get your copy of GIMP now.
This month we’re also running explainer series for Photoshop (which requires a paid monthly or yearly subscription) and Corel PaintShop Pro (which is a one-time purchase of around 70 pounds / 80 US dollars).
The pre-requisities
This is a BEGINNER workflow explainer, so you just need to install and open the software. We’ll take it from there.
If you’re new to IT / computing, you may need help downloading and installing the software. Start with a search for ‘how do i install gimp’ or speak with someone who’s familiar with downloading and installing.
Why would I do this?
Adding text directly to an image is the quickest method to help create a simple greeting, meme image or basic poster. Text is often added in separate layout or publishing software such as Adobe Illustrator or Affinity Publisher, but adding it directly to images will always have its place in quick and easy workflows.
Let’s do it!
Click the play icon to watch this video. Subtitles are available – Click the settings cog at the bottom right for options. You can also watch this video full-screen by clicking the full-screen icon at the bottom right.
Good to know
The text fonts (or ‘typefaces’) available in GIMP are those which are built-in to your computer plus any that have been automatically installed by your creative software. You can find and download fonts yourself at sites including dafont.com. Quality and pricing varies, and always check a font includes a ‘full’ character set if you need it for diverse projects, as some only include numbers, letters and essential punctuation.
Where to next?
The art of TYPOGRAPHY is a course in itself. Here’s a nice introduction illustrating the timeline from metal typesetting through to the screen fonts we’re using today. Don’t be put off by the title slide below – It’s a very watchable video 🙂
Remember, this is part of a series of explainers for this software – Join us again for the other explainers in the series 🙂
Notes and updates
There are no notes or advisories at this time. This video explainer was last updated in February 2022. This page was last updated in February 2022.
We at pixels.cool are not responsible for the content of any external webpages or software downloaded from third party sites. Links are included in good faith at the time of writing. All explainer content is compiled in good faith using processes and methods used by the team. Modern software gives users many ways in which to accomplish the same task, and for reasons of clarity we choose not to reference multiple options. All computer users should run up to date virus / security software at all times to minimise risk.
Download the asset pack for this series
If you’d like to follow our explainers using the actual assets demonstrated, you can download them using the link below. Not only do you receive the logos and images used in this series – You also gain access to versions of the videos without the background music. Nice!
ASSET PACK AVAILABLE END FEB.
This is number 9 of the 15 explainer videos made available for image editing month! Make sure you check out the others!
