I need a visual hint or clue

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I need a visual hint or clue

Postby miracle617 » Sun Mar 24, 2013 2:29 pm

I am doing a photo slide show of my pal's 50th wedding anniversary
I've contacted a lot a lot of friends and I am scrolling their "best wishes"
over their pic--BUT I cant get the text to show up readable--
I've tried all the different colors---that aint working..
is there a way to put a small box (open for text) that I can overlay
onto the photo? or any small background and the text will be readable?

and once again---thks for this forum..
Mike ---In Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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Re: I need a visual hint or clue

Postby im42n8 » Sun Mar 24, 2013 2:48 pm

Put a gradient or solid color with a reduced opacity over the image layer. Unlock the x and y zoom axes and change the zoom to fit your text. The key is to change the contrast between the background and the text. One way of doing that is to create a background for the caption. In this case, the caption background probably will extend the entire screen width. While the color may be any color, you may want one that maximizes the contrast. Hence, either black or white.

However, these may help:

Guide:
http://www.fenimorephotovideos.com/Vide ... owTips.zip

Video Examples:
http://www.fenimorephotovideos.com/fpvp ... _Demos.rar

Dale
What's New: Tools for ProShow: v11.42a Access ProShow capabilities Photodex doesn't provide (For PSG & PSP).
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Re: I need a visual hint or clue

Postby debngar » Sun Mar 24, 2013 3:24 pm

Hello MIke,

In addition to Dale's very useful solution, here are some other thoughts/ideas you could consider if you haven't tried them. They sometimes do the trick without the need for the contrasting box underneath the caption.

The font choice can make captions difficult to read. Pick something not too ornate. Make sure it's large enough to see from a distance. I tend to use white most of the time throughout.

Sometimes adding a black shadow on all captions is enough. If that doesn't do it, try a contrasting outline color on the captions. I use black most often for simplicity sake, but I've used other outline colors too but use the same contrasting color throughout for continuity sake. Sometimes bolding a font can help too.

The nice thing about these solutions is the shadow, outline and bold settings can be applied to some or all captions on some or all slides throughout the show with right-click menu choice over those settings. There is no need for unique sizing and positioning anything for each caption which can be time consuming.

Besides needing contrast, a busy image beneath text can make it hard to read captions too. Blurring the image slightly after it's been seen to make the text legible is also an option. While that may not fit in this case, it's can be an effective way to show text.

This 1:30 show demonstrates two different techniques, one at the title slide (5-10 seconds into the show) where a gradient mask was used to reveal the show background lower third (another option) to allow text visibility against the busy image. The second technique was the use of blur on the image behind the text, at the show's end (1:16 seconds).

If these choices fail to solve your problem, then absolutely use Dale's solution. :)

Debbie
Photography http://deborah-green.com

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Re: I need a visual hint or clue

Postby miracle617 » Mon Mar 25, 2013 4:31 am

Dale & Debbie---thanks very much for your solutions--
I am going to try Dale's method when I have more time--But I have a question for Debbie.Where is the black outline tool in that Caption window-- I knew that would help--just couldnt find it.
Thanks again
Mike :mrgreen:
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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Re: I need a visual hint or clue

Postby BarbaraC » Mon Mar 25, 2013 4:34 am

Mike, the outline is in the Caption Settings tab and down at the bottom in the form of a checkbox. Place a check in it, and then choose your color.

im42n8 wrote:Unlock the x and y zoom axes and change the zoom to fit your text

If using Dale's gradient/solid solution, pay attention to keyframes, which Dale probably forgot to mention because it's such an automatic consideration for long-time users. Once you set the size and shape in keyframe 1, copy those settings to keyframe 2, and if there are additional keyframes, copy to them, too.

I have a titling set on my site that you might want to take a look at because it uses the translucent underlay technique. You might get further ideas from it: http://www.theframelocker.com/proshow-titling.html

Barbara
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Re: I need a visual hint or clue

Postby miracle617 » Mon Mar 25, 2013 4:40 am

I just found it !!! Talk about it slapping me in the forehead !!! jeez, am I blind?
In my defense, I am just getting used to the new interface with PSP 5

I will go outline text now....humbly

Mike
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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Re: I need a visual hint or clue

Postby miracle617 » Mon Mar 25, 2013 4:54 am

and thank you Barbara.....I've been glossing over the OUTLINE tool thinking it should have been placed over on the
right---not under caption "placement". I hardly use some of those settings.

Thats my alibi --and I am sticking to it

For now, good ol OUTLINE tool will work for me.
Thanks , all you wonderful people

Mike :mrgreen:
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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Re: I need a visual hint or clue

Postby HunnyB » Tue Mar 26, 2013 7:31 am

Arial Black is always a good choice to read good. try white with a black outline :D
HunnyB
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Re: I need a visual hint or clue

Postby miracle617 » Wed Mar 27, 2013 4:48 am

Thank you HunnyB ( love yo :mrgreen: ur name) I went with the old standard Times New Roman --I used the white and now
since I discovered the outline tool , a black outline worked perfect.
Thanks for your help
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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