Expert: LizaL - 3/19/2005

Question
Hi! My name is Hazan, and I'm a 15-year-old from Pakistan.

I'm using Photoshop CS on a Pentium 4, 1.5Ghz. However, I'm very used to it so I keep my screen resolution at 800x600.

My problem is that recently I've been noticing that my text has fuzzy edges, you know, like how a bad GIF looks like with uneven edges? This hasn't happened before.

This is all before I apply any filters, layer options and stuff to the text, and ofcourse it affects the after.

I normally work with a resolution of 72 pixels/inch, RGB color, 8 bit. Background: white,  and usually my width and height are in pixels.  

So what could be wrong? What do you recommend? I really need your reply in a hurry. Plus I need to have small but clear text for my comics which I make for distribution with the school paper here, and all my other stuff. I love to create with Photoshop!

Thanks,
Take care,
Bye.


Answer
Hi Hazan,

It sounds as if your text is anti-aliased, meaning there's nothing to prevent those edges from being fuzzy.

Try this: Select your text, then try using the anti-aliasing options at the top of the screen. The little drop-down menu consists of Strong, Smooth, Crisp, and Sharp.

Like this:
http://little-works.com/all_experts/text.mov

In that little movie I showed you an example of all of the options. Notice how "None" really made the text have jaggy edges.

You said you needed an answer really fast, so I'm going to post this now and see if it helps you before I try and go into further troubleshooting -- but please understand, there is a difference between Pakistan and the U.S. in time zones :-)

But if this doesn't help, please post back and let me know, and we'll figure something else out. At worst, I could have you email me a sample of your text to look at and evaluate.


Here's hoping this helps!

Lisa