Create A Photoshop Tool Preset for Custom Text

I tag all my artwork posted online with a minimum of my website URL, and usually with copyright info. I wanted to set up an easy way to add this in Photoshop to each image without having to go to the Type tool, type the text, size it, etc. Here’s how I solved the issue…

Create Type Outlines

First, using the Type tool, I created my custom text on a new layer. With this type layer selected, I then went to the Layers menu and then down to the Type submenu, and chose “Convert to shape”. This is similar to the “Create outlines” command in Adobe Illustrator. It gives you a vector outline of the type characters, and this is handy so you can resize without pixellation later on.

Define a custom shape

Next, go to the Edit menu and then select “Define custom shape”. This will give you a new custom shape, available in the shapes drop-down box when you have the Shape Tool selected.

Make a Tool Preset

Next, we’re going to make a Tool Preset so we can access this shape quickly, and define color & blending attributes to it. I chose black as the color, with a blending mode of multiply and an opacity of 20%. Be sure you have your new custom shape selected, and then create a new tool preset for the Shape tool.

Now when you want to quickly add your URL to an image, just go to your Tool Presets panel and choose your preset. You then drag out on your canvas (holding the Shift key to constrain proportions) your custom “text”—technically it’s no longer text and not editable. Note that the new layer with your custom shape already has the blending mode and opacity you chose when creating the tool preset.

Obviously, the text is not editable. One could make a tool preset for the Type tool, but then you’d need to type out the text you want each time. Since I don’t need to edit the text for this usage, the Shape tool was the way to go.