[Feature request] - (Improving Text Tools - Text outline expansion direction, Text directly on image, Justify, more font/outline antialiasing options)

[0lm]

Is this feature request related to a problem?

Not that I know of. No Problems so far. But some inconvenient features could be bugs, since I am not sure if some things were intended to work that way or not.

Describe the best way to implement this.

First of all, thanks for your work and this awesome software. I like to use it, since it is very light and easy to use. Personally, I use text tools alot. And I noticed some things missing. Maybe you agree and would like to add them. Let's try our luck:

Text directly on image: All in one, the text tools are very good. Alot better than other image text tools. But some features are missing/are inconvenient. First, is it possible to add the ability to write directly onto the image? Right now, I don't seem to be able to write on the image itself, but rather on a seperate text box after clicking "edit text".

Justify: Another point I noticed, is: You have align left, right and center for text positions. Is it poossible to also add an option to justify the text?

Text outline expansion direction (inner, outer, mid): Then, about the text outlining: I noticed the text outlining goes into the inner. That means, the thicker the outline, the more it will cover the real inner color of the text. Is it possible to add an option, to change outline to the outer? So, even if the outline is very thick, it will expand to the outer, so it won't cover the real text color anymore. Right now I couldn't find any options to control the expansion direction of text outlines.

More antialiasing: Also, is it possible to add more different antialiasing options for fonts and outlines, for example "round" to make it look more smooth? I think there are also others existing in other image editors like strong, sharp etc.

I apologize in advance if some (or all) of these features are already present. But somehow I couldn't find them. Btw the versions I used were the beta release from 16th August, and later the nightly downloaded 6th September

Thank you!

If this feature makes it into PhotoDemon, I am happy to add your name to PhotoDemon's contributor list. Please let me know what name (and optional website link) you'd like me to use.

[tannerhelland]

Thank you for these excellent suggestions, @0lm ! Detailed feedback like this is so valuable.

Let me get the new 9.0 stable release out the door (planned for the next few days), then we can talk more about these features. I'll provide a more detailed update once 9.0 has released. 🙏

[tannerhelland]

I've just about finished support for justified text alignment. (It will be available in nightly builds soon!)

Next up? A toggle to render text outlines "above" or "below" the text fill. This is the easiest way for me to support outlines that do not cover up text interiors, as requested.

[tannerhelland]

A toggle is now available to render advanced text in Fill > Outline or Outline > Fill order. This achieves the "only expand outline outward" goal:

Next up, I'm going to explore the possibility of an additional "smooth" antialiasing option. I'll be honest - this one may not be achievable, because I have no idea how Photoshop's antialiasing algorithm operates, so I'm shooting blindly here. But I have a few ideas that may work "close enough".

I'll report back soon!

[tannerhelland]

Hi 0lm. Your requested text tool features are now available in nightly builds. Justified text alignment, "fill above outline", and expanded antialiasing options have all been implemented.

The one feature I cannot currently complete is the "edit text directly on image" request. Because PhotoDemon supports non-destructive rotation and shear on text layers, it would be incredibly difficult to support text editing directly on the image. (Similarly, features like "justified text alignment" are actually feasible for me to implement because they do not need to support interactive text editing!)

For the time being, I need to keep editing in a "traditional" system text box because the alternative would require many months of work, and I feel that other features are a more constructive use of my limited development time.

Thank you again for your excellent feedback and detailed feature request!

[0lm]

Hey. Sorry for the late response. I tested the new features by now, and they make working with texts in PhotoDemon alot more comfy and easier, thanks for that!

I hope it is not much to ask, but is it possible to add another feature like "templates"? So, one can quick-select between pre-configured text templates.

Examples:

1. One template has Arial Font, Font size 20, Color blue, outline thickness 10, set to round .... etc
2. Another template hast Calibre Font, Font Size 6, color red ... etc

Like, the ability to pre-define text settings and save them as templates, and to be able to quick.switch between them, instead of needing to go through all the settings once again, whenever you want to change something?

[wqweto]

JFYI, these "templates" are called "styles" in MS Word and most other text processors and desktop publishing tools and can have heirarchical definition i.e. Style 1 based on Normal, etc.

[tannerhelland]

Thank you for the follow-up, @0lm and @wqweto ! The ability to save/load custom text styles is an intriguing suggestion. I'll add this to my to-do list.

[Kroc]

Text styles are just effectively saved presets, like all the other image filters support