11.3. Adding Text to Prints

There are a couple ways to add text to your prints. You can print an existing Identity Plate that contains text, create custom text, or use metadata such as file name, title, caption, creator, and keywords attached to your image file. Let's see how.

Let's start by assuming you have an existing Identity Plate containing text. (The Identity Plate can be a graphic, of course, in which case, everything I write here still holds true...except for the part where I talk about editing the text.)

In the Overlays pane, Figure 11-27 select the Identity Plate check box (circled). Your current Identity Plate will appear in the box. It will also appear in a bounding box in the display work area.

Figure 11-27a. Figure 11-27

Identity Plate Placement

You can change the orientation of the bounding box in the Overlays pane by degrees in the upper right side of the pane. (Clicking on [0 °] degrees brings up a pop-up menu.) Select Override Color and choose another color for the text by clicking on the color selection box. You can also control the Opacity and Scale of the text (or graphic) with the sliders.

Checking Render behind image places the Identity Plate, or part of the plate, behind the image. Choosing Render on every image places the content of the Identity Plate directly in the middle of every image in your layout. Figure 11-28 Use the Opacity and Scale slider in the Overlays pane to control the content of the box.

Figure 11-28. Figure 11-28

If you haven't checked Render on every image, you can also work directly in the bounding box in the work area window. Click inside the bounding box and drag it to your desired location. Figure 11-29 The text will fill only one line and can be enlarged only to the width or length of the page.

Figure 11-29. Figure 11-29

Creating custom text

To create a Custom text Identity plate, double-click on the bounding box in the work area window, or, in the Overlays pane, select Edit from the pop-up menu. Figure 11-30 Either action will bring up The Identity Plate Editor dialog box shown here where you can type, and choose another font or style.

Figure 11-30. Figure 11-30

Adding page numbers, etc.

Select Page Options in the Overlays pane and you can selectively add page numbers, page info, or crop marks to the print. Figure 11-31 You can't control the size or position of the options; page numbers and Page Info all appear at the bottom of each page. You can choose to include Page Info (Print Sharpening setting, Profile setting, and printer name at the bottom of each page) or crop marks around each photo (to use as cutting guides after printing) by clicking the appropriate check box.

Figure 11-31. Figure 11-31

Using metadata for page info option

If you select Photo Info in the Overlays pane, you can add text based on available image metadata to your photo, or create your own custom text. The text will always appear at the bottom of the image, with limited choice of font size and no choice of font style or color. Select from one of the presets or choose Edit, which brings up the Text Template Editor, where you can create your own template based on one of the image data fields or add custom text of any length.