Editing text in images / editing text in flash

[mdawg]

I have Dreamweaver MX and Flash Professional MX 2004, also Photoshop CS.

I had pretty much given up on trying to edit the TEXT in a flash file from one of these free Hostgator templates.

So now I am trying the non-flash version, but when I try to edit the text in the JPEG images with PS I am having just as much trouble. I found this:
http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/ph...graphy_03.html
but doesn't seem to work for me.

If I am going to have so much trouble editing text in the JPEG images, might as well just try the whole nine yards with flash.

How do I do this? I was able to edit the text on the whole page that is there in psd format, but how does that help me?

[GvilleRick]

I haven't used the templates personally but the images should have a PSD version somewhere in the template files. You would need to edit the text in the psd file and then save it as a jpg.

[virtvir5]

Just in case the situation is not completely clear to you, different file formats treat text differently.

In some (e.g. *.psd files) there is actual text that can be selected and edited as such. Many image file formats, however, don't really contain any text to edit. The "text" that they display is actually just a part of the image itself. That part of the image, like any other, can be erased or modified, but it can't be edited like real text.

As GvilleRick suggests, you need to create/edit the text in a file format that supports it and then convert/save the whole thing to whatever image format you want to use on your web site.

[gwyneth]

Originally Posted by virtvir5

Just in case the situation is not completely clear to you, different file formats treat text differently.

In some (e.g. *.psd files) there is actual text that can be selected and edited as such. Many image file formats, however, don't really contain any text to edit. The "text" that they display is actually just a part of the image itself. That part of the image, like any other, can be erased or modified, but it can't be edited like real text.

As GvilleRick suggests, you need to create/edit the text in a file format that supports it and then convert/save the whole thing to whatever image format you want to use on your web site.

Richard, if the forum still had rep points, this excellent explanation would merit them.

[virtvir5]

Thanks, Gwyneth. Just trying, like others here including yourself, to provide a little payback for all the help that I got over the years. I'm still a long way in debt.

[mdawg]

I am able to edit everything in the single PSD file (one large PSD file), but then do I need to export all the different layers in order to get the equivalent of the proper separate images? What a pain. Only solution?

Thanks.

[virtvir5]

You "only" need to edit and resave the images you want to change on your site. If want to change all of them, I guess that's all of them.

[mdawg]

Well, for example a single button consists of several layers, and there are two buttons to each image (one before mouse roll over, one after), so that comes to about six layers per button. I am also not quite sure how to merge the layers into each proper JPEG image.

And as far as flash images, I am pretty lost.

[virtvir5]

In Photoshop, the simplest way is to select all layers of the one you want to convert/save and use the Save As item under the File menu. You can then choose your preferred file format (e.g., JPEG) and it will "flatten" the image as required for that format.

It is also possible to merge layers and flatten the chosen item manually under the Layers menu, but that shouldn't be necessary in most cases.

[Hullabaloo]

Using the psd files is not very intuitive.

Here is a quick and dirty way for tabs and their rollover states.

Open the psd file.
Update the text when it asks.
(You may need to reset the workspace to see the tools and layers:
Window-> Workspace-> Default Workspace )
You need to find out what font and size were used in the tabs.
Look in the Layers list. You should see a text layer called Main or Home or
About Us...
To make sure you have the right layer click the eye icon. If the text disappears
you have it. Click the eye again to turn it back on.

Double click the giant T in the layer.
You should see the font bar across the top of the screen.
Note the font info, for example Tahoma, Regular, 11pt.
You also need to know the font color, click the small color box to the right of
the text info. You will see a text box labeled with the octothorpe (#), that is
the color info. Six characters something like: 5b657b.
If the WEB ONLY COLORS box is checked, uncheck it, close the box and click again.

You can close the psd now.

Make a master tab.

Look in the html/image folder.
Find the matching tab and rollover. main.jpg and mainrol.jpg for instance.

Open either one, zoom in to about 600% or so.

Click the text tool and type in whatever the tab says.
If the tab says "Main page" the type "Main page".
The font properties should be the same, you will need to fix them if they are not.
Then select centered text in the text bar, and click the color bar to enter the
correct color.

Drag the text so that it overlays the tab text. If you do not have the exact
font on your system it may not align perfectly, but you should be able to get
close enough.

Click the eye to hide your new layer then double-click on the Background layer
in the Layers list. Just click OK to the pop up.

Select the marquee tool in the tool box, drag a box starting at the upper left
corner, select as much as you can without getting any of the jpg artifacts that
surround the text.

Hit Ctrl+J, then select the Move Tool, move the new layer to the right to cover
up the text, repeat the Ctrl+J as many times as you need until you have covered
all the text.

After the text is completely covered hit Ctrl+E to merge the selected layer down.
Repeat until you have only two layers (the text and the background.)

Save your work as a psd file.

Now edit the text to say what you need.
Duplicate the text layer then edit again.
Repeat.

Now with only one text layer visible, save for web or save as a jpg.
Repeat.

Will need to decide on a name for your new tabs.
If you use the file names that the original programmers used, you will not
have to change any code, but you will need to identify which tab is where in
the layout.

One note, the tabs are not always the same size, they really should be but...
The tabs are sized in the html, this may resize them slightly (usually only a
couple of pixels difference.) It probably wont be noticable, if it is just make
a new tab using the size specified.

If you need to grab something special out of the psd file, post the template number
and I will see if I can walk you through it. This should work for the slogan
and just about any other image they use.