How to get sharp text on the web?

Could someone tell me how to get sharp text for web use in photoshop? I've been trying to upload an image with

text and the text looks terrible and mushy. Thanks!

Some of this will depend on the font choice and how well it works at low resolutions, but you can help it a lot by experimenting with the anit-alias setting. See the attached screen shot. This palette should be available when you have the

type tool selected.<div></div>

You can use the GIF format, which will perfectly preserve the clarity of the text, but which will greatly reduce the number of colors in the image. Or, you can use JPG, but use less compression. Are you adding the text AFTER you've got the photo image down to its final size, or are you re-sizing text you've already rendered into the image? Regardless, JPG compression is what usually does nasty things to text... but when you back off on the compression, you end up with a larger file. Always trade-offs.

one way to do it is:

 

-resize your JPEG picture file to 72 dpi and 700p on longer side and adjust USM

 

- put your text on as it looks good for you in size and sharpness, merge the text layer in, try to avoid high contrast

in text compare to bg

 

- upload without compression

 

this probably will give best result possible in most cases

Thanks for your input! I've been using the sharp AA and starting at 750pixels- the proper width for this website-

unfortunately I can only upload jpegs and under 64kb...so...

 

Here is the image in question and it will be at www.modernphotobooth.com -see if you think it's so mushy that

it's distracting:<div></div>

Can you simply alter the design and use a simple HTML table to mosaic a couple ore more smaller JPG files together? That way you can use more aggressive compression on some parts of the finished graphic, and less aggressive on the file that contains the graphical text. You can even use a JPG for the LEFT part of the graphic, and an artifact-less GIF for the right-hand panel. Presto, the ext will look perfect, and the photo will stay a manageable size, KB-wise.

PNG file format beats both JPG and GIF. PNG is readable by all browsers on all platforms.

 

It is not lossy compression like JPG, and does not skimp on colours like GIF does.

 

To summarise: (1) it compresses decently; (2) it retains all colours; and (3) it uses lossless compression so that your text doesn't end up looking "mushy".

As Zaakiy says, use PNG for text (or screenshots).

Zaakiy, what if I start with a png but then hav eto convert to a jpeg ( I can only upload jpegs) will that be of help or not?

double-check the spelling of the product name on your promo image above... "photoTbooth" (sic)... extra "T" on the guy's tie.

DNG all the way. Another thing that helps the appearance is a slight drop shadow on the text. From a marketing

point of view, I'd re-do your descriptor as it doesn't sell your product very well, imo. Great branding pic

though, you have 99% of the battle done.

eeek - thanks Clarence! Too bad I have that on 3 pages...ughhhh

 

And Garrison- as a non-marketing person I would love to hear any ideas you have for the description :) Thanks everyone- learning a lot with this thread!

Stacey, you will lose the benefits of PNG and will see the compression artifacts of JPG.

 

Garrison, PNG is different to DNG. DNG is adobe raw (I believe), which is not natively compatible with all browsers across all platforms, whereas PNG is.

Odd that you can only upload jpegs, in that case save as highest quality jpegs in photoshop.

 

Experiment with uploading png, it might just work!

"Garrison, PNG is different to DNG."

 

OOPPSS! Good catch, Zaakiy. Guess what I've been converting to all day :)

 

I really thought PNG would have become more popular for the web by now.

 

You bet Stacey, I'll give it a whirl. Not much of a writer myself, but think I could inject a bit more confidence

into it. But in a nutsell, what makes you different from your competition? Plot it out in point form. You need to

create anxiety in your audience after they've read it, and giving them the feeling that the solution to escape

from that anxiety is by choosing your product. This is key in all slogans. That your whites wont be as bright if

you don't use Tide.

 

The anxiety is accomplished by presenting a desirable, idealistic and slightly unobtainable lifestyle surrounding

your product or service and then get them excited about the potential of becoming that ideal person simply by

purchasing your product or service.The more reasons why someone must use your product or service the better.

and that, in a nutshell, places advertising close to the root of all evil in the world :^)... but it's d***ed good advice.<p>Stacy I'd love to talk with you about what market segment is your target. And who is holding the money. I have tried something like this, and taking money from the subject on site is always a problem. I prefer the corporate or larger sponsor route, when the subject isn't calling the shots, but rather the sponsor of the event. That way, each subject isn't able to second guess the image selection or demand money back because they don't like the way they look. Love to hear your thoughts and experiences... t

[[( I can only upload jpegs) ]]

 

What sort of web host only allows uploading of JPG files? Are you sure you're not just misunderstanding the uploading procedures?

Well- I could be misunderstanding, but it says only non-progressive jpegs or .swf files. (what ever that is?). I will try some other formats though and see what happens.

 

Garrison- I'm thinking very hard about your advise, just nothing has come to me yet :) Thanks!

 

Tom- I guess my plan was just to charge the person having the party- give them a disk, then upload images later if any guests want copies. Ya- i would never try to sell a photo at someone's event...I'm thinking along the same lines as you are -big corporate parties etc...honestly I'm in uncharted territory though so we'll just have to see how it works out. maybe people won't like drunken portraits of their guests...but I sure love to take them, so I'm willing to give it a go :)<div></div>