Photoshop Tip: Justifying Text

If you have ever added text to an image using the type tool in Photoshop and later decided that you wanted create a different paragraph justification style (as opposed to the available right-, center- or left-align options), you may have been frustrated to discover that the justification options in the paragraph palette were grayed out.

There are a couple of ways to make sure you have the ability to justify text in your chosen format when working with the type tool in Photoshop.  I can confirm that the following directions work in Photoshop CS5 and CS6.

Option 1

• Begin the process by creating a text box.
• Do this by selecting the type tool and then click-and-drag to create text box.
• Now, the text you type in the newly-created text box can be modified as paragraph text in the paragraph palette.

Option 2

• Begin by selecting the type tool.
• Simply click on your image and start typing.
• Notice the justify options are grayed out in the paragraph palette.
• With the text layer selected, go to Type > Convert to Paragraph Text.
• You can now choose justification options in the paragraph palette.

Below is short video that walks you through the above two options.