Last week and the week before, I was looking at a lot of shops, as I read through the Chit Chat. (I am learning so much from the posts in this chit chat!)

I saw one shop that had only text, but I can't recall whose shop it was. I loved the way the text was done, and I wanted to ask the SK about technique.

If you have text only in your shop, will you please reply?

Thanks,
Marian

I see that no one wants to bother with this request. So I'm trying again.

All I want to know is who has ONLY TEXT DESIGNS in his/her shop? I'm not planning to copy you! If I were going to do that, I wouldn't make this inquiry.

I don't know whose shop you saw, but I looked at your dancin tree and it is nice.

Trish at www.cafepress.com/bownranch

I didn't answer because it seemed like you were looking for a specific technique from a specific shopkeeper but didn't include information as to which shop (rightfully so).

I do text designs, and pretty much it's doing text in photoshop and manipulating it, then saving it as png files. Not sure how much more detail you're looking for, but that might get you started.

Marian, I am also looking for a program that makes art-type text....I use Photoshop and the text is basic fonts. I have seen script that looks like art...hard to describe....I have asked the same question in the past. It was suggested to use the warp tool. Seems like there should be software out there for creative text. Large, wide lettering with the ability to end words with a tail/ribbon stream. Anyone out there that has any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Rita, Friskybizpet Designs

how folks learn to make their text look neat is to google things like "photoshop text tutorial" and read through "how-tos"

Editing the path of the individual text object allows you to alter the shape in any way you like -- sometimes good, sometimes bad. Tails and such adornments can be added as separate objects, or they can be edited into the individual letter, depending upon what works best for what you're trying to do.

Start by creating a single letter, then play around with editing its path. The rest will come with practice.

I'm going to move this over to the Graphics forum where some folks might be able to help more with program suggestions, etc.

When I began learning about selling here I was told that over 50% of all sales on CafePress are text only - !!! So many people who put much effort into their 'art' may not be using their time as best they could (I REALLY WISH I had know that before I put as many as 200 hours into some of my maps ... expecting to sell them over several years time to actually make any money on them - this was before CafePress decided that is not a good idea anyway).

I use several programs for different reasons. Photoshop can use macros they call 'actions'. You can buy 'actions' or create them yourself. Corel's PhotoPaint can use the Photoshop actions also. I would never recommend Photoshop to anyone who is not 100% involved in graphics/photography as about 99% of people NEVER need the power of Photoshop (there are so many other programs that are far cheaper to buy and easier to learn - and I am a dedicated Corel user) so ...

Some years ago I bought a CD of (I think it was) 800 or 900 different Photoshop 'actions' specifically for use with type/lettering/fonts - to do exactly what it seems you are referring to - making letters look more like some people's version of 'art' (chrome, distressed, neon, etc etc etc).

With this in mind you might do a search for ... photoshop ... actions ... type/fonts/lettering ... to see what you find.
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One of my most popular designs is text-only, very simple and straightforward: http://www.cafepress.com/tmen/952879

In this case, text-only was appropriate and most likely to appeal to a wide range of customers. No implied political party affiliations, no photos of politicians, just the simple text message. In this instance, it works.

On the other hand, another of my most popular designs wouldn't work at all as a text-only design, as the image is vital to the message: http://www.cafepress.com/tmen/903471

And a recent addition depends 100% on the graphic in order for the full impact of the joke to strike home (possibly offensive to some people): http://www.cafepress.com/tmen/6769307

IMO, there is no "one size fits all" answer to text-vs-graphics. Some of the best graphics I've ever seen don't have sales, some of the worst I've ever seen sell like hotcakes. Some people wouldn't be caught dead wearing a graphic design shirt, but wear text-only designs every day. It's a fickle business, with an extremely fickle customer base. Experiment. Do work that pleases you and move on to the next design.