Picmonkey Tips and Tricks: How to Add, Highlight, and Curve Text

There are two types of people in this world: Photoshop People, and PicMonkey People. I'm a PicMonkey Person, and so are most other bloggers in today's world. Photoshop has a ton of virtual buttons and knobs that are oh-so-tempting but, just like a kid in a toy isle, if you press too many of those buttons you can get yourself into a whole lot of trouble. I would rather avoid that whole photo catastrophe and take it easy, yet professional, with PicMonkey instead.

Thousands of Free Photos on Unsplash

Today, we're going to be talking about how to add, highlight, and curve text using PicMonkey. I'll be using a free photo from my favorite website, Unsplash, as well as my favorite sweet and simple quote- Dream Out Loud. So let's jump right in!

How to Add Text:

1. Go to the PicMonkey Website, click on edit, and choose a photo from your computer or another source that you would like to use as your background. You can also click on the "design" button if you would like a blank or transparent canvas to work with.

2. On the left side of the screen, click on the "text" button (circled in red below). Here, you can choose the font that you would like. Click on "Add Text" to add it to your canvas.

3. You can add your text in altogether, or add them in one word (or even one letter) at a time so that you can place them exactly where you want. Once you add your text, there is a pop up window shown below on the right, that allows you to manipulate the text color, size, fade amount, etc.

4. Once you have everything set, you can click the "save" button at the top of the screen to save your work of art!

How to Curve Text:

1. After you have completed step 1 above, click on the overlay button on the left side of the screen, circled in red below, and scroll down to the "banners" section. Add a banner of your choice and change the transparency, color, and size using the pop up overlay window (shown on the right in the picture below). This is optional, but if this is your first time curving text, it helps you as a guide for where the curve needs to be.

2. Add text (see instructions above) and break your text into pieces. Example: Dream Out Loud would be broken up as follows:

Dr, e, am, O, u, t, Lo, ud

3. Place each piece along the curve in the banner using the rotation option, as shown by the arrow below.

4. Continue rotating each piece of text, and save when you're done!

How to Highlight Text:

1. Click on the second icon from the top on the left side of the screen, and scroll down until you see the "draw" button.

2. On the left-hand side, you can change the color of the highlight, how transparent you would like it, and the size of brush. I usually bring the "fade" all the way down to 0 so that the highlight isn't too bold.

3. In the bottom right, there is a zoom button that I use if I want my highlight to be more precise.

4. I use a small brush and highlight each letter, or sometimes I use the bigger brush and highlight whole words at a time. Make sure your text is 100% in place and where you want it to be before you highlight because you can move the text, but you cannot move the highlight.

5. Click save, and you're all done!

There you go! 3 quick text tips to use with PicMonkey, and I have many more tips to come. Everything from collages to how to make the perfect Pinterest photo or Youtube thumbnail! Make sure you subscribe to my email newsletter to get more tips and fun, as well follow me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instsagram for a behind the scenes look!