Put text on a photo

On the main stage the next thing you add is a picture. Here it is words, so the layer is created for you, centred, at six per cent of the photo's height, and the Text tab is open before anything else. Everything else is the same tool: the layer can be moved, turned, faded, masked, outlined and given a shadow, and the crop check works on it like any other mark.

The words are kept as words until the moment you save. The preview draws them at a size that suits the screen; the saved file draws them again at the photo's own size, so a caption on a 6000-pixel photo is drawn at 6000 pixels rather than enlarged.

1. 1Open the photo. Drop it, paste it or choose it. It is read in this tab and goes nowhere else.
2. 2Type the words. The text layer is already on the photo. Type in the Text tab; a new line in the box is a new line on the photo.
3. 3Choose the face and size. Display, Plain, Serif or Mono, bold or italic, and a size stated as a share of the photo's height so it reads the same on any photo.
4. 4Make it readable. The panel measures the contrast between the words and the photo under them. Below 4.5 : 1, press Make it readable and a backing goes in behind the words.
5. 5Place it and save. Drag it, turn it, check the crop, then save. The words are drawn again at the saved size, so they are as sharp as the photo.

Faces

Display and Plain (this site's own), Serif and Mono (your device's own).

Size

Stated as a share of the photo's height, 1% to 40%.

Backing

On or off, any colour, strength 0–100%, corners square to fully round.

Presets

Caption, Title, Badge and Date stamp — each just a starting point.

Readability

Contrast against the average colour under the words, with a fix that picks the backing for you.

Saving

PNG, JPG or WebP at the photo's full size.

• One face and one colour per layer. A second style is a second layer.
• No text along a curve, and no editing directly on the photo — type in the Text tab.
• Serif and Mono look slightly different from device to device because they are the device's own faces.

Which fonts, and do they work offline?

Display and Plain are this site's own typefaces, served from this domain, so once the page has loaded they work without a connection. Serif and Mono use your device's own serif and monospace faces, which is why they look slightly different on a phone and a laptop.

Can I write in Hindi?

Yes. Devanagari is drawn by your device's own Hindi font through the browser's normal fallback, so it renders correctly on phones and computers that have one — almost all of them. The site's own two faces cover Latin letters only.

How do I keep text readable on a busy photo?

Three ways, all here. A backing behind the words (a pill or a band, at any strength); an outline on the Finish tab, which draws a ring around every letter; or a soft shadow. The contrast readout tells you when you have done enough: 4.5 : 1 or better against what is under the words.

Is my text sent anywhere?

No. The words exist in this tab's memory, are drawn onto the canvas here and end up in the file you save. They are not put in the address bar, not stored and not counted by anything.

Can I use two colours or two fonts?

Not inside one layer — each text layer has one face and one colour. Add a second text layer for a second style; each gets its own card, place and settings, and one undo covers both.

• Name and date on a photoThe exam-photo label: your name and the date of photograph on a white band, saved under a KB limit.
• Add a logo to a photoOpens small, in the corner, inside the margin a crop is least likely to take.
• Place a PNG on a photoA transparent element starts centred at a restrained share of the frame, ready to size and position.
• Place something on a photoThe stage and a deck of layers: logos, stickers, textures or a second photo, each moved until it looks right.