Adding Borders and Shadows to Your Poster Texts

step by step instructions on how to add borders and shadows to your text in poster printing

One of the frequently used design elements in poster printing is of course the text. When you print posters you need text for the title of the poster, as well as the myriad other details that describe the whole message of a color poster. However, for most of poster printing designs, you of course will not just type in the text. No. You want the text to have some sort of effect right?

In this guide, I will give you the step by step instructions on how to add borders and shadows to your text in poster printing. This should add that extra detail in your poster text to make it interesting. Let us start with creating your text.

1. Create your text.

To add a text layer to your design just look for the big "T" icon in your Photoshop tools. Simply click on it, and then go to your canvass. Click and drag your mouse to place a text area where you can type in your text. Afterward, you can then enter in the text you need.

2. Selecting the text layer.

With that done, you should see that a text layer of the one you made has automatically been created. Typically it is named after the text you just entered. To select the text layer, just click on it in your layer view. It is usually on the right hand side of the Photoshop workspace.

3. Accessing the blending options.

Next, you need to access the blending options to apply the effects that we need for the color poster text. Do this by right clicking on the selected text layer to bring up the context menu. Then, click on the option "blending options". The blending options dialog window should show up.

4. Adding the "stroke" option and adjusting it.

In the blending options window, click on the check box for "stroke" and then click on the name stroke itself. You should see the window change to display the options for adding an outline stroke or "border" for your text. Here you can adjust the color as well as the size of the stroke or border. Just change it to your taste.

5. Adding the "shadow" option and adjusting it.

Now, if you want to add a shadow effect, just click on the check box for "shadows" and then click on the name. Again you will see the window change to display the options for shadows. Just play with your options in terms of the angle of the shadows, the spread, the distance and even the color.

6. Saving your changes.

Once you are done playing with the stroke and shadow options, you just save your changes by clicking on "OK" at the bottom.

7. Editing your changes.

You just added shadows and strokes to your text with this. You can edit the effects anytime by just right clicking on that specific text layer again and then choosing the blending options item once again. Adjust and change as much as you like until you get the best effect that you want for your color posters.

Hopefully that helps you add a little interesting element to your text for poster printing. There are many other combinations of effects that you should try and play with in Photoshop for posters. Do not be afraid to experiment in poster printing and design.


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Lynne Saarte is a writer that hails from Texas. She has been in the Internet business for some years now, specializing in Internet marketing and other online business strategies.