How To Place Text Behind an Object in Photoshop
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Text behind a person in Photoshop is a compositing effect that hides part of a Text Layer behind your subject using a selection and a Layer Mask.
This is a popular text effect often used in magazines and movie posters.
This tutorial shows you how to recreate the text behind a person effect using non-destructive techniques. The example below shows the image you will work with, and what the text looks like behind the model.
This is a straightforward tutorial that will teach you about selections, Layer Masks, and Text Layers. You will also learn useful techniques that will help you with any project.
Here’s the image that I’ll be using. You can download a free watermarked version from Adobe Stock, but you can follow along with any photo.
Note: Select Subject shipped in Photoshop 2018, version 19.1, in January 2018, and it has gotten more accurate since. The workflow in this tutorial is the same today.
Key Takeaways
- Select Subject gives you a fast starting selection, but you still need to refine it in Select and Mask.
- Apply the Layer Mask to a group, not to the Text Layer itself, so every layer inside the group shares one mask.
- Holding Alt (Windows) or Option (macOS) while you click the Layer Mask icon creates an inverted mask in one step, instead of inverting it afterward.
- Flyaway hair that the mask hides can be hand-painted back in with a small brush loaded with colors picked from the hair itself.
- Matching the blur on painted hair to the photo’s own depth of field with Gaussian Blur is what sells the illusion.
- The text stays on an editable Text Layer the whole time, so you can still change the words after the effect is done.
Table of contents
- What You Will Learn
- Requirements
- Text Behind a Person in Photoshop Keyboard Shortcuts
- Step 01 – Type and Style Your Text
- Style Your Text
- Type Over Your Image
- Step 02 – Resize Your Text
- Step 03 – Move Your Text Into Position
- Center The Text on Canvas
- Disable The Text Layer
- Step 04 – Make a Selection Around the Main Subject of Your Image
- Select Subject (Photoshop 2018 and Newer)
- Step 05 – Fix Problem Areas with Your Selection
- Step 06 – Refine Your Selection with the Select and Mask Workspace
- View Mode
- Edge Detection
- Global Refinements
- Refine Edge Tool
- Step 07 – Create a Group To Hold The Text Layers
- Step 08 –Apply the Selection As a Mask To The Group
- Step 09 – Refine The Layer Mask
- Step 10 – Paint in Details
- Step 11 – Match The Depth of Field
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Conclusion
- Related Links
What You Will Learn
- How to select the main subject of a photo with Select Subject and refine it in Select and Mask.
- How to apply a Layer Mask to a group so it controls every layer inside.
- How to hand-paint flyaway hair details a mask cannot capture.
- How to match the depth of field of painted details to the rest of the photo.
- How to keep your text fully editable while it appears to sit behind your subject.
Requirements
Before you start
- Photoshop 2018 (version 19.1 or later) or the current version
Text Behind a Person in Photoshop Keyboard Shortcuts
| Action | Windows | macOS |
|---|---|---|
| Select the Horizontal Type Tool | T | T |
| Commit a text edit or transform | Ctrl Enter | Command Return |
| Free Transform (scale) | Ctrl T | Command T |
| Constrain proportions while scaling | Shift (hold) | Shift (hold) |
| Select All (center-on-canvas trick) | Ctrl A | Command A |
| Select the Move Tool | V | V |
| Deselect | Ctrl D | Command D |
| Subtract from a selection | Alt-drag | Option-drag |
| Create an inverted Layer Mask | Alt-click Layer Mask icon | Option-click Layer Mask icon |
| Swap Foreground/Background color | X | X |
| Select the Brush Tool | B | B |
| Decrease brush size | [ | [ |
| Temporarily switch to the Eyedropper Tool | Alt (hold) | Option (hold) |
| Select the Zoom Tool | Z | Z |
| Fine-tune the Radius by 0.1 px | Up/Down Arrow | Up/Down Arrow |
Step 01 – Type and Style Your Text
The first step is to type a word over your photo.
Start by selecting the Horizontal Type Tool from the Toolbar. You could also press T (Windows) or T (macOS) to select it.
The font is not essential to the tutorial, but I am using Gotham Light in this example. Feel free to use any font that you like.
Style Your Text
Before you type over your image, apply any character styles that you like. For example, if you want your text to be in all caps open the Character Panel by going to Window > Character.
Then click on the All Caps icon.
You could also change the Leading, Tracking, Kerning, and other attributes from this panel.
Type Over Your Image
Type anything that you like over your photo. I will type the word “Behind” over to the left of the photo.
Remember to commit your changes by pressing CtrlEnter (Windows) or CommandReturn (macOS) or by clicking on the checkmark in the Options Bar.
Step 02 – Resize Your Text
If your text is too small (or too big), you can scale it just like you would any other layer.
Press CtrlT (Windows) or CommandT (macOS) to enter the Transform mode. Then hold Shift (Windows) or Shift (macOS) and click-and-drag on any bounding box corner handle to scale the text.
Holding Shift (Windows) or Shift (macOS) as you transform allows you to scale the text without distorting the proportions.
Press CtrlEnter (Windows) or CommandReturn (macOS) to commit your transformation.
Step 03 – Move Your Text Into Position
You can use the Move Tool to place the Text Layer anywhere that you like.
Center The Text on Canvas
If you would like to center your text to the canvas, you can use this neat little trick.
Press CtrlA (Windows) or CommandA (macOS) to make a selection around the entire canvas.
Then select the Move Tool by pressing V (Windows) or V (macOS). In the Options Bar, you can click on the Align icons to align the Text Layer.
Click on the Align Vertical Centers and on the Align Horizontal Centers to center the text layer to the center of the canvas.
Press CtrlD (Windows) or CommandD (macOS) to deselect.
Disable The Text Layer
Once you have positioned the text exactly where you want it, you can disable the Text Layer by clicking on the eye icon.
Step 04 – Make a Selection Around the Main Subject of Your Image
To create the illusion that there is text behind the model, you will need to create a Layer Mask that will selectively hide parts of the text.
Start by making a selection around the main subject of your image.
One of the easiest ways to make a selection in Photoshop is by using the Quick Selection Tool.
You can drag across your main subject to make a selection.
Select Subject (Photoshop 2018 and Newer)
If you are on Photoshop 2018 or newer, then there’s a tool that can help you get started quicker.
With the Quick Selection Tool active you will notice that the Options Bar has a button labeled Select Subject.
When you click on Select Subject, Photoshop uses machine learning to automatically select the main subject of the photo.
In this case, Select Subject does an excellent job. There are only a couple of areas that you need to fix to get a good selection.
Select Subject will never make a perfect selection; you will always need to fine-tune it. But it gives you a jump-start in the selection process, and it saves you a little bit of time.
Since this tool is using artificial intelligence, I think that in newer releases of Photoshop this tool will get much better.
If you just need a fast version of this effect on any object, see how to place text behind anything in Photoshop with an even quicker method.
Step 05 – Fix Problem Areas with Your Selection
Whether you used the Quick Selection Tool or Select Subject, you will need to refine your selection and fix problem areas.
Remember that with the Quick Selection Tool you can hold Alt (Windows) or Option (macOS) to subtract from the selection.
Don’t spend too much time fine-tuning your selection; you don’t need a perfect selection at this point. Later on, you can focus on fine-tuning areas that require it.
Step 06 – Refine Your Selection with the Select and Mask Workspace
Once you’re done making your selection, you will need to refine it.
You can refine your selection by clicking on the Select and Mask button in the Options Bar.
Tip: For a closer look at every slider in this workspace, see the full Select and Mask workspace tutorial.
If you are using Photoshop CS6 or older, then this option will read Refine Edge. The interface will be a bit different, but all the tools and settings that we use in this tutorial are also available in the Refine Edge dialog.
Note: If you’re on a newer version of Photoshop and want to bring back the old Refine Edge/Refine Mask dialog, hold Shift and go to Select > Select and Mask. This opens the classic dialog instead of the newer workspace.
View Mode
Start by changing the View Mode to “On White” to make the edge refinement adjustments easier to see.
Also, set the Onion Skinning opacity to 100%.
Edge Detection
In the Edge Detection options enable the Smart Radius, to create a variable edge width around the edge of your selection.
This option works great for images that include both hair and straight edges. For example, hair requires a larger refinement area than the shoulders where the edge is straight. The Smart Radius helps create that variable width in the refinement area.
Then increase the Radius which determines the size of the selection border in which the edge refinement occurs.
Global Refinements
The following adjustments may vary depending on your photo. But in most cases, you will need to make Global Refinements to improve your selection.
Consider using the Smooth slider, so, that your edges are not jaggy. Also, adding Contrast and Contracting the selection inward can help in removing edge halos.
Refine Edge Tool
If you have hair on your image, then select the Refine Edge Tool, and paint directly over the flyaway hairs in your photo.
Photoshop will do its best to extract the flyaway hairs from your background. Unfortunately, you will not get good results unless you are working with a solid color background.
Again, don’t spend too much time making the perfect selection. You don’t want to spend too much time refining areas that are not going to be needed.
When you’re done refining your selection, press OK.
The Marching Ants should still be active.
Step 07 – Create a Group To Hold The Text Layers
Create a group by clicking on the New Group icon in the Layers Panel.
Rename the group “Text.” You can change the name of any layer or group by double-clicking on the name.
Drag your Text Layer into the new group.
Step 08 –Apply the Selection As a Mask To The Group
Layer Masks make the text behind an object effect possible. A Layer Maks allows you to selectively show or hide pixels of a layer or a group.
In this tutorial, we’re going to apply the Layer Mask to the group and not the Text Layer. Having the mask on the group allows you to have multiple layers controlled by one Layer Mask.
So any layer that you throw into the text group will appear as if it were behind your selected object.
In this tutorial, we are only going to work with one text layer, but using Layer Masks in groups is an important technique to learn.
With the selection active, and the group selected, hold Alt (Windows) or Option (macOS) and click on the Layer Mask icon to create an inverted Layer Mask.
Step 09 – Refine The Layer Mask
Now that you can see how the text layer affects the portrait, you can spend some time fine-tuning the mask in areas that require it.
Click on the Group Layer Mask and select the Brush Tool. You can paint with black or white to hide or reveal pixels.
Remember that you can toggle between Foreground and Background colors by pressing X (Windows) or X (macOS).
Step 10 – Paint in Details
In some areas, the text will hide detail that it is too difficult to mask, like the flyaway hairs around the model’s head.
Instead of spending time trying to mask those hair strands, you can paint in the detail from scratch, much like in the Advanced Hair Masking tutorial.
Start by creating a new layer and rename it “Hair.” Then drag the Hair layer inside of the Text group.
Select the Brush Tool by Pressing B on the Keyboard. Then in the Options Bar click on the Brush Settings icon.
In the Brush Settings Panel, bring the Spacing down to 1% and the Size to 1 pixel.
You can temporarily enable the Eyedropper Tool to select colors by holding Alt (Windows) or Option (macOS). Then click anywhere on the canvas to choose a color. Chose a color that is similar to the flyaway hair.
Then paint hair strands using that color. Do the same with several other colors found in the hair. Use the brightest and darkest colors to make the flyaway hair seem more realistic.
Step 11 – Match The Depth of Field
Notice that the flyaway hairs that you painted are sharp, while the hairs in the photo are blurry.
The depth of field of the photo is causing the blurriness, and you need to match this blurriness to make your flyaway hairs more realistic.
You can learn more shallow depth of field techniques in this tutorial on how to blur backgrounds in Photoshop.
You can blur your Hair layer by going to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur.
With the Radius input box active, you can press the up and down keys on the keyboard to fine-tune the blur by 0.1 pixels.
The detail on these flyaway hairs is so small that in the final image they will not be noticeable.
In your image, you may need to work on more details. But always look at your 100% view to make sure that the details you are working on are noticeable.
This is what my final image looks like:
Frequently Asked Questions
Select the person with Select Subject, refine the selection in Select and Mask, then apply it as an inverted Layer Mask on a group that holds your Text Layer. The mask hides the part of the text that overlaps the person, so the text appears to sit behind them.
A mask on a group controls every layer inside it at once. That way you can add more layers, like hand-painted hair, and they all follow the same mask without extra work.
An inverted Layer Mask shows the opposite of what a normal mask would show. Hold Alt (Windows) or Option (macOS) and click the Layer Mask icon with a selection active to create one in a single step.
A selection mask cannot capture fine, single-pixel hair strands, so thin flyaway hairs get clipped along with the background. Paint them back in by hand with a small brush loaded with colors sampled from the hair.
The camera’s depth of field blurs the original hair slightly, so hair painted at full sharpness looks pasted on. Apply Gaussian Blur to the painted layer until it matches the blur in the rest of the photo.
Yes, though CS6 uses the older Refine Edge dialog instead of the Select and Mask workspace, and it does not have Select Subject. You will need to drag a selection manually with the Quick Selection Tool.
Yes. The Text Layer stays fully editable the whole time, because the illusion comes from a Layer Mask on the group, not from flattening or rasterizing the text.
This tutorial focuses on a person, with extra steps for refining hair edges and matching depth of field. A companion tutorial covers a faster method that works on any object.
Conclusion
Placing text behind a person in Photoshop comes down to one Layer Mask on a group, refined with Select and Mask and finished with a little hand-painted hair.
The result holds up because the text stays editable and the painted details match the photo’s own depth of field.
If you want another editable text trick, try the see-through cutout text effect next, or watch the video above and comment on the video with any question.
Selections and Masking Mastery
Complete course includes 2.5 hours of step-by-step lessons, 6 structured modules, downloadable practice files, and custom Photoshop brushes. Everything you need to master selections and masks in one place.
Keep going
Next, learn how to create a hair or fur text effect for another way to blend letters into a photo.
Related Links
Final Image
Drag the slider to see before and after
Excellent! Any newcomer can get back to that thing he missed on how to get where, when.
I’d do this differently though. Why not just copy the subject and place it on a layer above the type. Then you could turn off the type layer and find where you need that hair painted in.
I learned what the contrast adjustment does under Global Refinements. I also learned that .3 pixels is right for blurring hair strands.
There’s only one missing, but it’s very simple: I don’t have good finger dexterity. I turn smoothing on and set it to 36%.
All in all, much better than a tube. The newcomer can get back to where he forgot how to get to a control. Is also faster to read than wait for a video. Good job! Well done!
This was a super cool tip! Thank you.
This was a super cool tip! Thank you.
I liked the video very much,