“Word Art” simply put, is using lettering to enhance page design. By learning a few Photoshop Elements tricks, you can manipulate and enhance typed words to create fun and beautiful special effects.

Begin with a quotation, title, or phrase. The internet is a treasure-trove for finding just the right word for each occasion. A quick search for “quotations” produces an array of websites dedicated to the words of famous people. You are sure to find something to your liking.

Step 1: From the toolbar, select the Horizontal Type Tool (T). Choose a font that matches the theme of your layout. For example, you might choose a whimsical font for a child’s page or a scripty font for a wedding page. (The font used here is 2Peas Handwritten, used to carry out the page theme.)

Type one or more words of your phrase. Click the check mark to confirm your line of text. Now type another word or line, clicking the check mark to complete the layer. A key element in creating interesting word art is to use several layers to complete the quote.

Step 2: begin arranging the groups of words in an artful way. You may wish to turn a group of words on the side. To do this switch to the move tool and click on the grouping you would like to turn. You should see a bounding box appear around the text.

From the Windows menu, select Image| Rotate| Layer 90° left. (Note: BE SURE to choose from the middle box which says “layer 90°” - this will rotate the LAYER only. The choices at the top section of the box will rotate your entire layout!) Your selected words should now be turned. To move them around on the page, simply select the box, click and drag them into place.

Step 3: You may wish to resize a word at this point. To do this, select the Move Tool (V), then click on the word. Your word should be surrounded by a dotted bounding box. Move the cursor to the corner of the bounding box. You will see a diagonal arrow appear. Holding down the shift key, click and drag out the arrow until the word is the desired size. Holding the shift key will maintain the proper aspect ratio of your text. (Otherwise, you may get a funhouse effect with distorted text.) Click the check mark to confirm the size.

To make the text smaller repeat step 3, dragging inward to create a smaller box.

Step 4: if you wish to change the color or font of a word, select the Text Tool (T). Left click very close to the beginning of the word. A blue line will appear under your text. Now click and drag over the entire word. You will know the word is selected because it will be shaded.
To change the color of the word, choose a color from the color drop-down menu in the options bar. Clicking “more colors” will bring up the color picker menu.

To change the font of the selected word, choose a font from the font drop-down menu in the options bar.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with different styles, colors, fonts and placement – even overlapping words! You are making a work of art which requires a lot of trial and error.

Step 5: adding clip art or a brush stroke to your word art adds another level of interest to the project. For this project a paw print was selected to replace the “O” in the word “dog.” Simply drag the png file onto your layout. Tilt the graphic by hovering over the side of the paw print. Once the curved arrow appears, you can click and drag the graphic left or right.

Decrease the opacity of the clipart by moving the opacity slider above the layers palette

A little word play might be just what you need to enhance the
theme and visual appeal of your next layout. Here are a few samples from one of our favorite digital scrapbooking websites:

Credits:
Paw brush from the “Doggie Doodles” brush set by MaryAnn Wise at designerdigitals.com; Font: 2Peas Handwritten downloaded from twopeasinabucket.com; Background Paper from the “Run Spot Run Paper pack” by Katie Pertiet at designerdigitals.com

Dream Quote, Beauty and Garden Quote (freebies) by Katie Pertiet at designerdigitals.com
Sleep Quote (freebie) by Kellie Mize at designerdigitals.com
Fathers Quote (freebie) by Jackie Eckles at designerdigitals.com