Using text over a photo or illustration can add real impact to your book. The BookSmart designers have provided several layouts that make it easy to add this design element — the hardest part may be finding the perfect image to go with that quote from your favorite 80’s movie.
Chapter titles and section pages are great places to use text over photos — repetition of this technique at the beginning of each section will provide a nice rhythm for your reader. A text overlay also works well with blurry photos, textures, or patterns that may not be that strong alone … but that really pop when married to a famous quotation, pull quote, or chapter title.
Here’s how to create text-over-photo pages like those pictured above:
1. First, add a new “Quotation” page using the Add Page button (or look for the “Quotation Page” category in the Change Page Layout pull-down menu to see a few layout options to choose from).
2. Next, select your image and drag it to the page. Your image should now show up underneath the text area. Images that don’t have much contrast, or that contain large, solid hits of color (such as the blue water above) tend to work best.
3. Add your text and play around a bit. If you’re laying type over a dark image you may want to “punch” it out by making it white or a subtle gray. Consider increasing your font size to really make the type pop off of the image background. This also usually serves to increase legibility — and adds a dynamic component to your design. Position your type within the text area using the text alignment buttons, or add a few returns to push your type down the page.
4. Finally, give yourself a gut check on legibility. Some text and image combos, especially those with high contrast or multi-colored photos, just won’t work. Give yourself a bit of time for trial and error.
If you have a book, or you run across someone else’s in the Blurb Bookstore, that has a great example of using text over an image, please share by adding a comment to this post … and, as always, happy bookmaking.
P.S. Did I mention our free Design Tips webinar is tomorrow?
16 Comments
Is there any way that you can take the text that is in the layout, and move it closer to the side, top, or bottom of the page?
Is there a way to fade the picture behind the text?
It is not out-of-date information? Because I have other data on this theme. http://video-online-go.ru/map.html
Tiffany Hunter,
Select the full bleed page with the largest text box and move the text wherever you want it to be.
Help! My inside layouts are all black with white text but I do NOt want white text on my COVER…and the text automatically appears white on the cover (the picture i chose for the cover is not conducive to white text) any way to change the text on the cover only to black?
Thanks
Rose
Please, help me!! I want to add a panoramic photo and use double page. How can I do that?? Is it posible?
Hi Teresa:
Yes you can. Check out this popular method:
http://theartofengineering.wordpress.com/2008/01/12/putting-a-photo-across-the-gutter-of-a-spread/
Hi!
I really liked one Cover Layouts, but is there some way that I can use the Front cover as Back cover and Back Cover as Front Cover?
Thank you
hello,
is there a way (or option ) to type texts vertically instead of horizontally???
for example:
s
u
z
i
e
Is it possible to design my book using software other than Booksmart? Such as Quark or InDesign?
How do I move text around on the cover page? is it possible to double text to create a text “shadow”?
I need that help too, place title of book vertically on front
Ok, so I am new here but am having trouble putting a picture on a page and then adding text over it. I would like the picture to be a full-bleed with one line of text, i.e. “Appetizers” over a picture. I saw one on a sample but can’t figure out how to do it. PLEASE HELP! Thank you.
I am wondering if there is any way to increase the size of text boxes manually. Or to create a text box and insert it where you need it. I understand the text over picture bit, but am working with a font that needs to be size 60 to even really be legible, therefore text boxes are eaten up quickly. Any way to manually increase or insert text boxes? Thanks!!
Is there a way to “turn” a text box the way you can “turn” a photo? In other words, I want a photo in the book in “landscape” format, not in “portrait” format - and I want the photo description to be in landscape format as well. I don’t want the whole book in landscape, just this page.
Can i create a background, solid color inside of a text box? I’d like the text box to stand out, framed, as an overlay accross a number of pictures?
Thanks.
I have been looking at some of the other books published on blurb and would love to use the effect of THICK BOLD TEXT over a photo but FADED out to still revile the photo behind. I understand there are different programs you can use to make book, I am using booksmart and cannot find any way to fade text (or photo’s for that matter) is there a way to do this???? If not is there any chance of adding this function to booksmart?
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